While the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) and officials of Sultanpur and Government Railway Police are still groping in the dark about those involved in the sensational attack on the police gunner of mafia don Mukhtar Ansari’s nephew, Samajwadi Party MLA Suhed alias Mannu Ansari, the carbine looted in the incident was recovered in Madhya Pradesh.
The gunner had died in the attack while his carbine was looted. Though no senior officer confirmed the recovery of the carbine, sources said some miscreants were fleeing after looting it in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh when some locals nabbed them on Monday. They also found a carbine which, according to the police, was the one looted from the MLA’s gunner.
However, senior officials in Sultanpur said they heard about the recovery only through media reports and were trying to confirm it from the Madhya Pradesh police.
The gunner was attacked with knives by unidentified men on board the Shramjeevi Express and later fled with the carbine on October 25 last year, a GRP official said. The incident took place just 50 metres away from the Sultanpur railway station, he said. The injured gunner was identified as Rakesh. He was travelling from Varanasi to Delhi.
Rakesh was taken to the district hospital from where doctors referred him to Lucknow. He reportedly told the police about the sequence of events but failed to give any clue about the robbers. Later, he succumbed during treatment on November 2.
The GRP initially suspected that as the victim was attached as the gunner of Mukhtar’s nephew, some hardcore criminals hailing from eastern UP, particularly from Jaunpur and Azamgarh, might have been behind the attack. The cops also took help of CCTV footage to identify the criminals, but in vain.
It may be mentioned that the assailants entered the train before it could reach the Sultanpur railway station. They snatched the carbine and attacked the gunner with knives. They then stopped the train by pulling its chain and fled the scene. SHO, GRP, Shamim Ali Siddiqui later claimed that a case was registered in this connection and further probe was underway.
Soon after the loot, Ansari, who represents Mohammadabad assembly constituency in Ghazipur district, said: “I came to know that my gunner has been attacked. He was coming to Lucknow to receive me at the airport. According to reports coming from the district (Sultanpur), some criminals attacked him with knives and also snatched his gun.” Asked about the law and order situation in the state, he said, “I am worried about myself as I have no gunner now.”