DSP death: Key suspect arrested from Nuh; 12 people held so far

Nuh police on Friday arrested a key suspect in the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Surender Singh murder case

Nuh police on Friday arrested a key suspect in the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Surender Singh murder case. DSP Singh was run over and killed by a dump truck while he was acting on a tip-off involving illegal mining in Panchgaon on July 19.

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According to Varun Singla, superintendent of police, Nuh, the suspect has been identified as Mushtaq aka Mangal (31), a resident of Pachgaon village in Tauru. “He was constructing a house in his village and wanted building material for which he asked the truck driver Shabbir Illiyas aka Mittar to transport illegally mined stones,” he said.

Mittar then asked Ikram Khan aka Ikkar to accompany him to the illegal mining site at Chilla village in Pachgaon. Ikkar demanded a packet of chips and a chance to play on Mittar’s mobile phone in exchange for accompanying him, police said.

Naresh Kumar, in-charge, Crime Investigation Agency, Nuh, who made the arrest, said that Mittar and his aides unloaded two trucks full of mined stones at Mangal’s house, and was in the process of loading the third batch when DSP Singh arrived at the site. “DSP Singh reached the spot and tried to stop them but Mittar and Ikkar threatened to shoot at the police team. When the DSP tried to intercept the dump truck, they ran over and killed him,” he said.

“Mangal agreed to pay ₹3,500 for each truck and had given Mittar ₹7,000 for two trucks. He wanted three more trucks worth of stones on July 19 when the incident took place,” Kumar said. He added that Mittar was popular in the area for transporting illegally mined stones used in constructing houses, and supplied more than 70 trucks worth of material each month.

Mangal was apprehended from Raipuri village in Nuh on Friday afternoon and will be produced in court on Saturday. Police said raids were conducted at more than 20 locations to apprehend him as he was changing locations since July 19.

Police have arrested 12 suspects allegedly involved in the case so far, out of whom Jabid aka Billa was granted bail by a Nuh court on Wednesday. Assaruddin aka Asru, another suspect, was placed in quarantine after he tested positive for Covid on Thursday, police said.

Mittar was arrested on July 20 from Ganghora village in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Ikkar was apprehended hours after the incident on July 19, and sustained a bullet injury to his leg during arrest. His family later submitted an insanity application to the police claiming he was a certified mental health patient.

Ajay Kumar, deputy commissioner, Nuh, informed that police teams are conducting surprise checks at all suspected locations to ensure no illegal activity is being carried out in the district. “Our teams are regularly checking vehicles and penalising those found violating norms,” he said.