Delhi cop stabbed while out on patrol, assailant caught after gunfight

Upon their arrival, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan Mandava said, the two policemen saw that Sunny alias Shooter, a habitual criminal who had recently returned after a stint in jail, was along with his associate fighting with an auto driver

A Delhi Police head constable who was out on a patrol at Qutub Vihar near Chhawla in southwest Delhi was stabbed and grievously injured by an assailant, officers aware of the matter said on Monday.

Following the complaint, a case under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (fraud), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) as well as the Information Technology Act was registered at the Sector 20 police station.

Multiple teams were formed to assailant, who was nabbed after a gunfight around six hours later, the officers said.

The incident occurred at around 8.30pm on Sunday, when head constable Rinku Kumar (34) and assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sunil Kumar of Chhawla police station were out on a beat patrol when they were alerted about an argument in Qutub Vihar.

Upon their arrival, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan Mandava said, the two policemen saw that Sunny alias Shooter, a habitual criminal who had recently returned after a stint in jail, was along with his associate fighting with an auto driver.

“Rinku and some local residents rushed towards the two miscreants, who tried to flee after seeing the police. Rinku chased them and overpowered Sunny… Suddenly, Sunny pulled out a knife and stabbed Rinku twice before fleeing the spot... Some locals rushed the head constable to a nearby private hospital while the ASI alerted the police station about the stabbing,” said DCP Mandava.

Rinku was admitted a private hospital in Dwarka, where he is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU), police said. Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora and other senior officers met him on Monday evening and enquired about his recovery.

Meanwhile, after the ASI alerted senior officers about the incident, multiple police teams were formed in Dwarka district, including its special staff, to nab Sunny and his associate. The teams collected information about the suspects from informers and through technical surveillance, and learnt that Sunny was hiding with his associates in a rented room on Bhai-Bhai Road in Qutub Vihar, police said.

DCP Mandava said at around 2.30am on Monday, police teams surrounded the building, and some personnel went to the first floor, where Sunny was learnt to be hiding, and asked him to surrender. However, the officer said, someone inside the room fired three rounds at the police party.

The police team retaliated and two bullets hit Sunny in his legs, following which he was overpowered, Mandava said. Two others, named Samay and Sahil were also nabbed, he said.

It is not clear if either Samay or Sahil were involved in the stabbing incident, police said.

Two separate cases an attempt to murder and attack on police personnel were registered against Sunny and others in connection with the stabbing and firing at police party incidents.

According to police, this is the second time that Sunny has attacked a policeman -- in 2021, he had attempted to escape police custody by snatching the service pistol of a personnel while he was being taken to a government hospital for a medical examination after his arrest in a carjacking case, said DCP Mandava.

Between 2001 and 2022, 230 Delhi Police personnel were killed in the line of duty. A majority of them died in road mishaps -- either their vehicles met with accidents during raids, or they were hit by vehicles on the city’s streets -- while another 15 were killed after being stabbed or shot by criminals.