The police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The members of the family were taken to the police station late Tuesday night.
Three days after sleuths of the Meerut Crime Branch arrested the Salarpur village pradhan and his nephew for allegedly attacking the police, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Friday asked the ADG (Meerut) Prashant Kumar to initiate an “unbiased inquiry” into the incident. The ADG has entrusted Rajesh Kumar, SP (Rural), to conduct a probe and lodge an FIR against the sleuths if they are found guilty.
The arrested Pradhan owes allegiance to the ruling party, sources said. A delegation of the BJP leaders, led by the party’s state unit chief of the farmer’s cell, Ajay Bharala, met the ADG Friday afternoon and threatened to lodge an FIR against the sleuths “if a fare inquiry was not conducted” into the arrest of Kunwar Saheb Bhardwaj (60), the village pradhan, and his nephew, Shipanshu (26).
“The Meerut Crime Branch officials had raided the house of Bhardwaj on Tuesday after a gang of vehicle lifters, who were arrested, informed them that they had sold one of the stolen bikes to Vipin Sharma, the village head’s son. When the team in plain clothes reached the house, they found the bike on the premises and thereafter Vipin was arrested,” Rakesh Kumar, the in-charge of Ganganagar police station, said.
When the sleuths were escorting Vipin to the local Ganganagar police station, he allegedly snatched a cop’s service revolver and fired bullets in the air before escaping from there. Meanwhile, the women in the house created a ruckus alleging that the house was being attacked by thieves following which locals attacked the police team. Vijay Kumar, a crime branch inspector, was badly beaten up by the locals, Kumar added.
When the control room was informed, additional police force was rushed to Salarpur. The police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The members of the family were taken to the police station late Tuesday night. While others were released, Bhardwaj and his nephew were arrested and sent to jail, the in-charge of Ganganagar police station said.
“We recovered an unnumbered bike, a scooty, an unlicensed pistol, a country-made pistol and unregistered cartridges from the residence of the village head. Three FIRs were lodged in this connection. Bhardwaj and his nephew have been arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday night under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 147 (guilty of rioting), 148 (rioting being armed with deadly weapon, 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence) and 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty,” Kumar added.
“The Deputy chief minister has assured me that the ADG has been asked to conduct an unbiased inquiry and lodge an FIR against the cops, if they are found guilty. We will move the court if no action is taken against the police for arresting the village head and his nephew who are innocent,” said Bharala soon after meeting the senior police officer.
“The crime branch sleuths were in plain clothes when they raided the residence of Bhardwaj. When they tried to take away the bike and scooty from the premises, presuming them to be thieves, the family members attacked them. The cops also misbehaved with the women in the house and forced them to stay at Ganganagar police till late Tuesday night. They were later released, but Bhardwaj and his nephew have been sent to jail,” said Bharala.
Confirming the meeting, Upendra Pachauri, the PRO to the ADG, said, “A delegation met the ADG in the afternoon. The ADG has asked the SP (rural) to look into it and take action based on his findings. He has also pointed out that the attack on the police team is a serious offence and it will also be probed.”