Four cops suspended in Sambhal constables' killing

BAREILLY: Two days after two constables were killed by three undertrials during the transfer of 24 prisoners from Chandausi court to Moradabad jail, four policemen were suspended for “dereliction of duty”.

Sambhal SP Yamuna Prasad issued the order on Thursday night to suspend reserve inspector Chudamani Joshi and three cops – sub-inspector Chetram Singh, constable Khub Singh and driver Indramani Tiwari – who were escorting jail inmates from Chandausi court to the prison.

However, despite extensive combing operation of the region by Uttar Pradesh STF and police force of various districts, the three killers are still at large - even 48 hours after the incident. Photographs of all three absconding accused have been pasted at public places and are being circulated through various social media platforms by police officials.

In another development, 10 teams have been pressed into action as part of intensive search operations. Police teams raided at least 17 places in search of the fleeing criminals, but there has been no breakthrough so far. On Wednesday, two constables – Harendra and Brijpal – were gunned down by three inmates when they were escorting 24 prisoners in a police van.

The SP said that reserve inspector Joshi was suspended for his negligence - checking duty of cops at court premises and deploying policemen without weapons. Besides, three other cops were also suspended. Inspector Satish Chand, who is currently in-charge of crime branch, will replace Joshi as the new reserve inspector. And inspector Wahid Khan will now be in-charge of crime branch.

Additional director-general of Bareilly zone, Avinash Chandra, who has been camping in Sambhal for the past two days, told TOI, “We have come across some intelligence inputs regarding three absconding killers which are being verified. As many as 15 suspects have been detained. They are being interrogated. It has been a challenge to trace the criminals since they are not using mobile phones. But now, we are using our own conventional methods of policing. Very soon, they will be caught.”