Doon Hospital shooting: 2 men held after encounter; 3rd caught after overnight search

The arrested men — Sohail Khan (25), Sanu (23), and Javed (30) — are members of the gang behind the October 18 shooting outside Doon Hospital

Published on: Oct 23, 2025, 19:25:26 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Dehradun: Two men accused of shooting a 24-year-old outside Doon Hospital in Uttarakhand earlier this month were arrested after a gunbattle with police near Doiwala village on Wednesday night, while a third suspect, who escaped during the encounter, was caught early Thursday following an overnight search, police said.

The police control room was alerted about “three suspicious people riding a white scooter with a mud-smeared number plate heading from Chhidarwala towards Laltappad.” (Representative photo)

The arrested men — Sohail Khan (25), Sanu (23), and Javed (30) — are members of the gang behind the October 18 shooting outside Doon Hospital, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dehradun Ajai Singh said, adding that the attack on Dishant was allegedly carried out over a monetary dispute with Rohan Arya and Vishal Tomar, who were arrested earlier.

SSP Singh said that acting on information received through the control room about “three suspicious people riding a white scooter with a mud-smeared number plate heading from Chhidarwala towards Laltappad” late Wednesday night, teams from the Doiwala police station set up barricades and began vehicle checks.

“When the suspects saw the police barricade, they tried to flee, turning their scooter back towards Chhidarwala and speeding through a forest track near Kali Temple. Police chased them for about 100 metres into the forest, where the accused opened fire on the team,” he said.

“In retaliatory firing done in self-defence, Sohail Khan and Sanu suffered injuries to their legs,” SSP Singh added.

Police recovered two country-made 315-bore pistols, four live and two empty cartridges, one knife, and the scooter used in the crime. “The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for first aid. During interrogation, the accused confessed to having shot Dishant outside Doon Hospital a few days ago. The attack, they said, was planned by Kavyansh Dhama, who had a financial dispute with the victim,” Singh said.

The third accused, Javed, a resident of Saharanpur, who had managed to escape during the encounter, was later arrested from the Doiwala area during a pre-dawn search operation.

A fresh case has been registered against the accused at the Doiwala police station under Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Arms Act.

Police said the accused had been hiding in different areas since the incident to evade arrest.

So far, five people connected to the case have been arrested. “The arrested accused are being interrogated to trace the source of the illegal firearms and identify others involved in supplying the weapons,” Singh said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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