Two broad daylight robberies done at gunpoint in Rudrapur of Udham Singh Nagar district on Tuesday have exposed the laggardness of the police in curbing crimes. Despite over 24 hours having passed since the incidents happened, district police are still clueless about the identities of the criminals involved in them.
Around noon on Tuesday, motorbike-borne criminals fired shots at two labour suppliers of a Rudrapur based company and decamped with Rs 10 lakh. Police said that the duo was going to distribute wages to the labourers.
Both were admitted at local hospital and from there they were referred to a higher centre. The injured have been identified as Mohammad Umar Ansari, native of Bareilly and Shukhpal, resident of Katarpur. Both were supervisors in a private company based in Rudrapur.
In another incident, some criminals reached Bindukhera village in a car. They confined a rice mill owner and decamped with a car and cash of Rs three lakh. The rice mill owner was hit by the criminals with pistol butt when he resisted the loot.
DIG Kumaon Range Pushkar Singh Sailal said that he had inspected the site and several teams, including Special Operation Group (SOG), have been pressed into service to crack the loot spree that had occurred in Rudrapur.
CCTV cameras have been recovered by the police from the incident site and its footages are being reviewed electronically by a specialised team.
He further said that team members have been probing the case from several angles. The possibility of the members of the same gang committing both the loots cannot be ruled out, he said, adding that some teams have been sent to neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh.
He said that the criminals would soon be arrested. Moreover, district police have been directed to be vigilant apart from intensifying patrolling. They have been directed too to take necessary measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents, said Sailal.