OPENED FIRE ON POLICIE WHEN ASKED TO SURRENDER

OPENED FIRE ON POLICIE WHEN ASKED TO SURRENDER

13-JULY-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA----------------------------An FIR has been registered regarding an encounter with criminals in the fields of Kharaincha village, under the Garhani police station area, on Friday. The FIR, lodged based on the statement of Station House Officer (SHO) Kamaljit, names four miscreants, including the two arrested criminals. They are accused of conspiring to rob a CSP (Customer Service Point), attempting to murder police personnel, and assaulting officers to obstruct official duty.

The FIR states that around 8:30 AM on Friday, information was received that a group of four to five criminals was planning a CSP robbery inside a makeshift hut—constructed from plastic sheets and straw—located under a tree near an *ahar* (water reservoir) east of Agiaon Block in the Garhani police station area.

After informing senior officials, a team was constituted under the SHO's leadership to arrest the criminals. While the police were surrounding the hut, the four criminals spotted them and began fleeing in different directions; two ran towards the Kharaincha fields, while the other two fled towards the Agiaon-Sahar road.

The team pursued the criminals fleeing into the Kharaincha fields. Suddenly, one of the criminals opened fire on the police. Even when ordered to surrender, he continued firing. A total of four rounds were fired by the criminals. In self-defense, the police fired four rounds into the air using their service pistols.

Subsequently, the criminal who had been firing was arrested near Kharaincha Musahar Toli. He was identified as Suraj Kumar (alias Gehuman), son of Gajendra Yadav (alias Bagha), a resident of Agiaon village. A country-made pistol (used in the firing), a magazine, and two live cartridges were recovered from his possession.

A second team arrested Pankaj Kumar—son of Devkant Singh (alias Chunchun) and a resident of Lasadhi village—who was fleeing towards the Agiaon-Sahar road. During interrogation, both arrested individuals revealed the names of their two accomplices who had managed to escape. They include Ravi Kumar and Sonadhari, a resident of Pipra village under the Garhani police station area. Raids are being conducted to arrest both of them.

The raiding team, led by Station House Officer (SHO) Kamaljit, included ASI Bablu Sah, PTC Ramashankar, Constables Mohan Kumar, Bhola Kumar, Govind Pal, and Chandan Kumar, Home Guards Rohit Kumar, Prince Kumar, and Ankit Kumar, and Chowkidar Rahul Kumar.