Driver of truck that ran over officer held in Rajasthan

A cleaner of the truck was earlier arrested on Tuesday after an exchange of fire with police. The deputy superintendent of police, Surender Singh, was run over in Nuh’s Pachgaon when he tried to flag down the truck for questioning as part of an effort to crack down on illegal mining.

The driver of a truck that ran over a police officer investigating illegal mining in Haryana’s Nuh district was arrested in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur on Wednesday, a day before the 58-year-old was set to be cremated at his village in Hisar.

Mittar Ishak, the driver of the truck, was arrested after a long chase by the police in Ganghora village of Bharatpur, said Nuh superintendent of police Varun Singla. (Representative image)

A cleaner of the truck was earlier arrested on Tuesday after an exchange of fire with police. The deputy superintendent of police, Surender Singh, was run over in Nuh’s Pachgaon when he tried to flag down the truck for questioning as part of an effort to crack down on illegal mining.

“We are conducting raids at nearby districts and we are hopeful of arresting the remaining suspects,” Haryana home minister Anil Vij said.

On Wednesday, Mittar Ishak, the driver of the truck, was arrested after a long chase by the police in Ganghora village of Bharatpur, said Nuh superintendent of police Varun Singla. Ishak, about 30 years old, fled to his relative’s house after the death of the DSP.

The Haryana Police have formed 10 teams to conduct searches in at least 13 villages in Nuh and Tauru areas. Ikkar Khan, the cleaner who was arrested after sustaining a gunshot wound to his leg on Tuesday, was discharged from a hospital on Wednesday and sent to five days in police custody by a court.

During questioning, Khan revealed the sequence of events before the DSP’s death. “He told us that the police wanted to impound their vehicle. He said the DSP was tailing them and they tried to unload the dump truck but were surrounded by the police. Fearing arrest, they took out weapons and asked the police to back off but they walked towards the truck and asked them to get down. Mittar then ran over the DSP in a bid to escape,” the officer quoted above said.

Singla said there are two cases registered against Khan – one for the murder of the DSP and the other for opening fire on police teams chasing him.

The police have identified a few villages where relatives and friends of the remaining suspects live. “Their numbers have been put on surveillance. Anyone helping the suspect or others in the gang will be booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code,” said a senior police officer, asking not to be named.