Police on Friday arrested two men wanted for allegedly shooting a member of the President’s specialised security service and attacking his brother following a dispute over bursting crackers on Diwali night in Baghpat district.
One of the accused, Dheeraj, sustained a bullet injury to his leg during an encounter with police in the wee hours of Friday, while his associate, Monu, was arrested during a search operation in a nearby forest.
A reward of ₹10,000 each had been announced for information leading to the arrest of the two accused.
The incident took place in Gopalpur Khadana village under the Ramala police station area. Saurabh Tomar, a security personnel deployed at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, had come to his native village on leave to celebrate Diwali with his family.
According to police, an argument broke out over bursting firecrackers on Diwali night. The dispute escalated, and Monu and Dheeraj allegedly attacked Saurabh and his brother. During the assault, Saurabh was shot in the head. He is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Meerut.
Following the incident, superintendent of police Purnendu Singh constituted three police teams to arrest the accused.
{{/usCountry}}Following the incident, superintendent of police Purnendu Singh constituted three police teams to arrest the accused.
{{/usCountry}}Police said they received information around midnight on Thursday that the two accused were sitting at a tubewell. When a police team reached the spot and attempted to apprehend them, the accused allegedly opened fire. Police retaliated, during which Dheeraj sustained a bullet injury.
He was taken to hospital for treatment, while Monu was arrested after police searched the nearby forest.
Police recovered two illegal country-made firearms, two live cartridges and three empty cartridges from their possession.
According to police, four criminal cases are already registered against Dheeraj, while Monu has one criminal case registered against him.
Ramala station house officer Rakesh Kumar Sharma confirmed the arrest of both accused and said further legal proceedings were underway.
SP Purnendu Singh said the police had an encounter with the accused allegedly involved in shooting the Rashtrapati Bhavan security personnel on Diwali night.