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Jharkhand: Second accused in woman police cop's murder case arrested
Sandhya Topno was on a night patrolling duty and had tried to stop the vehicle, reportedly carrying cattle, for checking. She was mowed down on the outskirts of Ranchi on July 20.
The police on Saturday arrested a second person in a case related to the murder of a Ranchi sub-inspector. The accused, Sajid, was the second occupant in the vehicle that mowed down Sandhya Topno in the wee hours of July 20, news agency ANI reported.
Kishor Kaushal, SSP Ranchi, said two of Sajid's aides have also been detained and further investigation into the case was underway.
Topno, a 2018-batch officer, was on a night patrolling duty and had tried to stop the pick-up van that was being tracked from Khunti district for checking. She was run over around 3am on the outskirts of Ranchi. An hour later, the Mahindra pick-up van overturned near Sithiyo village in the capital.
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Police chased the vehicle and later arrested its driver, identified as Nigaar Khan, and took him into their custody.
Topno was rushed to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences but succumbed to her injuries en route, Tupadana police station in-charge Kanhaiya Singh told news agency PTI.
The incident triggered a political altercation between the ruling alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jharkhand. The saffron unit slammed at the Hemant Soren-led coalition government - comprising JMM, RJD and Congress - accusing it of rendering a free hand to smugglers due to vote bank politics. BJP national vice president and former chief minister Raghubar Das demanded a CBI probe into the incident, claiming that incidents of cow smuggling, which is banned in the state, have increased since Soren became chief minister in December 2019.
