Cocking a snook at DGP Javeed Ahmed’s direction of initiating stern action against elements attacking men in khaki, armed goons raided a police station in Pratapgarh forcing the cops to flee and killed a home guard in the night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Elsewhere in Philibhit, a sub-inspector was shot dead while two others were critically injured when a youth indiscriminately fired at them earlyThursday morning.
The UP government had earlier admitted in the Assembly that number of attacks on the police had increased by more than 100 per cent in the last few years.
In Pratapgarh, half a dozen armed miscreants on motorcycles rode to the Manikpur police station and opened burst fire with assault rifles sending shiock waves among the men in uniform late on Wednesday night.
Caught in the sudden fusillade of gunshots and salvo of crude bombs, the police personnel present including Station Officer, Pramendra Kumar jumped the boundary wall of the police station to somehow save their lives.
The motive behind the armed hoodlums raiding the police station was to free one of their accomplice, which they successfully did. In the process however, they gunned down home guard Mahadev Mishra (56) for showing the temerity to resist the miscreants. With their mission accomplished, the unbridled gunmen casually strutted out of the police station with their aide.
However, to save himself the ignominiy of fleeing and to avoid action, the SO mentioned in the police diary that he chased the criminals who fled. The SO also also registwsred a case against three persons - Balkrishna aka Bale and Imran of Hathigawa and Shiva aka Shivmani of Sangramgarh areas of Pratapgarh. But he denied that any one had been freed by the raiders.
Interestingly, the DGP instead of flaying the inaction of the cops who fled their own police station, in fact tried to save his junior colleagues claiming that all out efforts were being made to arrest them.
Meanwhiel in Pilibhit, promottee sub-inspector Subash Chandra Yadav posted at Puranpur police station was patrolling the area on a Tata Magic vehicle when a youth flug a stone breaking the front glass pane. The cop jumped off the vehicle and after catchin the youth slapped him. The youth in turn grappled with the cop and in the process snatched his service revolver. He later fired indiscriminately causing critical injuries to the sub-inspector and two passers by identified as Ravi of Madhutanda and Tara Chand of Amraiya Kala locality of Puranpur.
Upon learning of the incident, the local police rushed to the scene and arrested the miscreant identified as Rajendra of Balrampur area of Puranpur. The injured were taken to a hospital where sub-inspector Yadav was pronounced dead upon arrival. The other injuured were shifted to the district hospital. The police later claimed that the accused was mentally unstable.
The brazen attacks on the men in uniform armed the Opposition parties the fuel to attack the ruling party. State BJP chief laxmikant Bajpai blamed the SP regime of ‘dancing to the tune of criminals’ and aleged that anarchy prevails in the state.
UP Congress chief Nirmal Khatri too condemned the raid and claimed that even policemen have to scurry for their safety in the state and needxeds security.
Meanwhie, BSP leader in UP Assembly, Swami Prasad Maurya also attacked the government saying that ‘kungle raj’ was prevailing in UP and the Governor should dismiss the government over deteriorating law and order.