Cop fires into air after being chased by mob of ‘bootleggers’

No one was reported to be hurt in the firing and the constable, though allegedly beaten up, escaped without injuries even as he was forced to leave his motorcycle on the spot, police said.

A policeman fired a round of bullets into the air in a residential neighbourhood in south Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar after he was allegedly manhandled and a chased by a group of suspected bootleggers Saturday morning, police said.

A local attacks constable Ram Kishan in Madanpur Khadar on Saturday. (Video Grab)

According to additional deputy commissioner of police (south-east), Kumar Gyanesh, police constable Ram Kishan — who is the beat officer for the area—was out to check any instances of bootlegging in the neighbourhood when some suspected bootleggers confronted him.

No one was reported to be hurt in the firing and the constable, though allegedly beaten up, escaped without injuries even as he was forced to leave his motorcycle on the spot, police said.

Police said that they had identified four suspects involved in the incident and they have cases of bootlegging lodged against them. “We have arrested one woman for assaulting a police officer and have formed teams to nab the other three. We will soon identify the other people involved in the incident” the ADCP said.

“We carried out a flag march in the neighbourhood and the situation is now under control,” he added.

“Constable Kishan was visiting the house of a bootlegger named Ashok in Madanpur Khadar’s JJ Colony around 12.30 am on Saturday to check the sale of illicit liquor. But Ashok’s wife and another woman intercepted him outside the house itself and started to fight with him,” the officer said.

“With the help of two young men, the women beat up the constable. Surrounded by a mob, the constable then fired into the air in self-defence and to disperse the crowd. He managed to escape from the spot, leaving his motorcycle behind. He informed the local police after which police were deployed in the neighbourhood,” Gyanesh said.

A video clip shot on a mobile phone shows the policeman backing off with his pistol pointed upwards even as some people seem to close in on him.

In the video, someone in the crowd is heard challenging the constable to fire, almost immediately after which Kishan fires a round into the air. The gunshot was followed by a woman confronting him even as the policeman pushed her away twice, at one point briefly appearing to have pointed his pistol in her face.

The policeman appeared to be repeatedly warning her to keep away, even as someone in the mob also tells her that the policeman would shoot her. The woman then removes her slippers to hit the constable. The policeman then turns around and runs into the street with the woman and another person trying to chase him.