Cop shot dead during raid by criminal’s associates in UP’s Ghaziabad
A 28-year-old constable, a part of Noida Police team out to catch a wanted criminal in Ghaziabad, was shot dead by his associates, police said on Monday.
The incident took place in Masuri area’s Nahal village late on Sunday night, when the team raided a location looking for Qadir, wanted in a case of robbery registered in Noida’s Phase-III police station.
When the team was taking Qadir away, his associates hiding near a panchayat bhavan fired gunshots, pelted them with stones and launched an attack on them with deadly weapons, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Rural, Surendra Nath Tiwari.
Constable Saurabh Kumar Deshwal received a gunshot in the head in the attack. He was rushed to Yashoda Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the DCP said.
The 2016-batch policeman, a native of Shamli, was posted at Phase-III Police Station. “His death has caused a huge loss to the police department,” said a spokesperson of Gautam Buddh Nagar Commissionerate.
Sub-inspectors Sachin Rathi, Udit Singh, Sumit and Nikhil were injured in the attack, he said.
Meanwhile, Gautam Buddh Nagar Commissioner Laxmi Singh announced Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Deshwal’s kin from her salary. Also, each police personnel in the district will contribute their day’s salary in assistance to his family, she said.
Qadir, who had escaped in the commotion, was later nabbed and is currently in custody. He has 16 criminal cases filed against him and is a history-sheeter of Thana Masuri, the spokesperson said.
Police are on the lookout for Qadir’s brother Adil and several others involved in the attack.
Masuri Police and a SWAT team arrested two men involved in the attack on Monday evening after a brief exchange of fire near an underpass on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
The accused were apprehended during a special drive launched in the forest area of Nahal village based on a tip-off, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Masuri, Lipi Nagaich.
“During checking operation, a police team signalled a motorcycle with two suspicious riders to stop. Instead of halting, they tried to flee. The bike slipped and the duo fell. When cornered, they opened fire at the police team. In retaliatory firing, both sustained gunshot injuries to their legs and were arrested,” the ACP said.
The two men, identified as Nanhu and Abdul Salam, during interrogation confessed to their involvement in firing and stone-pelting on the Noida Police team that had come to raid the area on the night of May 25, she added.
Two country-made pistols of .315 bore, two live and two empty cartridges and a Splendor motorcycle were recovered from the two men — both residents of Nahal, police said.
