Caught mining sand illegally, gang of 10 beats cops in Bhondsi

A group of at least 10 men allegedly assaulted a team of five policemen in Rithoj village after the former was caught trying to steal sand from a forest area in

A group of at least 10 men allegedly assaulted a team of five policemen in Rithoj village after the former was caught trying to steal sand from a forest area in Bhondsi, the police said on Monday. Thy added that in the alleged scuffle, a sub-inspector sustained bruises, as the assailants tore his uniform and threatened to kill the policemen.

HT Image

According to the police, the incident took place on Saturday around 7pm when three policemen, stationed near Kali Chowk, received information about several men mining sand illegally from a forest area near Rithoj village.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that when a team reached the spot, some of the suspects misbehaved with policemen and sped away in a tractor towards Rithoj village.

The police said that their team relayed the information to the Maruti Kunj police post, following which the police post in-charge and a PCR vehicle rushed to Rithoj village.

“As the PCR vehicle entered the village, at least 10 men surrounded it, bringing it to a halt. A sub-inspector then questioned the suspects and tried to reason with them, when one of the suspects, started yelling. Suddenly, several men started manhandling the policemen and in the scuffle, they held the sub-inspector by his collar and tore his uniform,” a police officer said.

In the complaint, a police officer who was at the spot alleged that the suspects threatened to run over the policemen with a tractor if they tried to stop them from stealing sand.

The police said at least nine suspects had been identified but they were yet to be arrested. The suspects are locals from the village, the police said.

A case was registered against the suspects under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at Bhondsi police station on Sunday, the police said.