The collective refrain is that the Haridwar police are far from un-ravelling several cogs of the Roorkee jail campus mayhem, resulting in three deaths on August 5.
Again, it is said that the state government is yet to adequately bolster the security inside and outside the jail to stop recurrence of such gory gangwar. Yet, surprisingly, this has not deterred the Khanpur MlA and Mining Development Council Chairman Kunwar Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ from awarding the police teams with cash reward of Rs 1,11,111 at Police Headquarter here in Dehradun on Wednesday.
The decision to award them was taken in consideration of the fact that they had succeeded in arresting five of the accused, including Sunil Tomar, native of Bagpat (Uttar Pradesh), Sunil Rana, native of Bhajanpura (New Delhi), Amit alias Bhoora, native of Muzaffarnagar (UP) and Mahkar alias Pappu, resident of Haridwar, and impounding a Warna car, two Scorpio cars, some arms, bullets and cash worth Rs one lakh on August 9, Champion said, “Police are under critical lens most of the times from all the sections of society. They are taken to task whenever a crime occurs. But, in this case, they performed splendidly as they arrested five culprits with exemplary promptness. Hence, we have decided to bestow cash awards on them by way encouraging them to conjure up such feats in the coming days,” he added.
He further said Roorkee (Haridwar) has a glow attached to it. “This is because a host of premier institutions like Indian Institute of Technology, Manufacture of Survey and Nautical Instruments, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), National Institute of Hydrology, Bengal Engineer Group, an army training institution and other well-known industries are located here. Keeping this fact in view, the state government has taken a slew of steps to make this place safer for intellectuals, industrialists and other residents,” he added.
Champion, however, refused to answer when quizzed over why police were on him regarding two recent incidents-one related to alleged firing in the residence of the cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat in Dehradun and the other related to a complaint a shopper, Mohini Road had lodged against him, alleging that the MlA had threaten him when he refused to recharge his driver’s mobile.
Champion said, “This is not the right occasion to answer such questions. There is nothing new in these charges. I am used to live with the charges tagged to me. The public representatives must not take these things too seriously. This is part of the game. As far as the cases registered against me, they have all been sorted out so far.” In addition to the awards pompously bestowed by the MlA, Director General of Police BS Sidhu announced reward of Rs 20, 000 to the police teams for arresting five of shooting incident accused. “They arrested the accused in an incredibly short span of time. This feat deserves reward,” he added.
He further said several teams have been formed to nab the rest of the accused in the case-a statement that makes it crystal clear that the case is far from being over with the criminals figuring in the FIRs being still at large.
However, some observers sounded unconvinced. “Roorkee, sharing boundaries with Muzaffarnagar, Saharapur and Bijnor districts of western UP, has turned into an ideal haven for the hardened criminals working for notorious gangs. They come from the neighbouring states and settle there to carry on with their nefarious activities. There is thus no reason why police should be made self-complacent. They have miles to go before they can claim the place is safe for all,” one of them said.