Curbing crime: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh police to share inputs on criminals
Haridwar senior superintendent of police Krishan Kumar VK says police from the bordering districts of UP and Uttarakhand will remain in touch with each other.
HARIDWAR: The involvement of inter-state gangs in recent crimes in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh has forced the police of the two states to sit, coordinate and share inputs on criminals and their activities on a regular basis.
According to Haridwar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Krishan Kumar VK, police officials from the bordering districts of UP and Uttarakhand will remain in touch with each other. Confirming the report, UP’s Bijnor SP Prabhakar Chaudhri said that the record of criminals will also be shared, as several cases showing involvement of same criminals in Bijnore and Haridwar districts have come to light in the recent times.
Last month, three gunmen had fired on Devpal Rana, a resident of Deoband town in UP and close aide of notorious gangster Sushil Rathi, on the premises of an additional district judge’s court in Ramnagar area of Roorkee. Rana is also the main accused in killing of three members of Chinu Pundit gang outside Roorkee prison.
Extortion threats by gangs in western UP to property dealers, doctors, industrialists and influential people in Haridwar and Roorkee have also increased. Last month, the Roorkee police carried out a raid at Baraut in Baghpat district of UP to arrest Rajabala, the mother of gangster Sunil Rathi, in connection with an extortion threat to Roorkee-based Dr ND Arora.
Haridwar appears to have become a safe haven for criminals from western UP because of its proximity to the crime-sensitive districts of Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore and Saharanpur in UP. Three major gangs run by Sunil Rathi, Chinu Pundit and Jeeva are active in western UP and simultaneously in Roorkee-Haridwar-Dehradun belt of Uttarakhand. Notorious criminals Praveen Valimiki, Sachin Khokhar, Pappu and Vishu of western UP also operate in the belt.
According to the Haridwar SSP, a close watch is being kept on all these UP-based gangs.
Involvement of UP-based criminals is also suspected in the ₹1.30 lakh loot from a bank agent at Lakshar and a couple’s murder at Saidabad village in Haridwar on November 21 .
Supply of smack from UP to Uttarakhand has also come to light recently. Three drug peddlers, who had brought a consignment of smack worth ₹1 lakh from UP to supply in Kaliyar and Roorkee belt of Haridwar district, were arrested from Kaliyar on Thursday.
Commenting on the increased coordination between the police of the two states, Haridwar SP Mamta Vohra said, “We are vigilant and if similar checking and patrolling drive will be carried out by the UP police on a regular basis, surely it won’t be an easy access to UP-based criminals in Uttarakhand.”