Murder accused ‘tries to attack’ police team, shot in leg

According to the FIR, on December 3, Yadav and others allegedly formed an unlawful assembly and assaulted Nizam alias Bhanja, Shoaib Shaikh and Irshad Shaikh with iron rods, attempting to extort Rs 20,000. When the victims failed to pay, they were further beaten, resulting in the death of Shoaib Shaikh on the spot. The remaining two victims were allegedly kidnapped and taken to Nandurbar in Maharashtra, where Nizam alias Bhanja also died, and his body was allegedly dumped near the civil hospital along with the critically injured Irshad Shaikh. The FIR in this case had already been filed on December 3 at Godadara police station.

Police said that on December 15, acting on human intelligence, they received information that Yadav would be at Ahmedabad railway station. A police team travelled in a private vehicle to the location, apprehended him at around 11 am, and began transporting him to Surat.

Around 6 pm, the private vehicle arrived near the Devadh Gam check post, where a second team, led by SI Ramanandi, arrived in a police vehicle. When two personnel escorted Yadav out of the private vehicle, the accused bent over, “clutching his stomach and vomiting”, prompting officers to check on him.

The FIR states, “Suddenly, the accused pushed the personnel holding him, toppling them into the canal on the side of the road. He then picked up a stone and threw it at SI Ramanandi, who raised his hand. The second stone thrown by Yadav hit the window of the police vehicle and shattered the glass.”

It adds, “While SI Ramanandi was shaken by the attack, Yadav lunged forward and attempted to snatch his service pistol bolstered to his left side. The SI managed to push him off, but Yadav then picked up another stone to hit him. SI Ramanandi pulled out his pistol and fired two rounds at Yadav. One hit the ground and the other hit Yadav’s right leg.”

Police then called an ambulance, which shifted Yadav to SMIMER Hospital for treatment.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Zone 2 DCP Kanan Desai of Surat City Police said that in the double murder case — in which 12 there are accused, including a minor — police have already apprehended six adults and detained the minor, with Yadav becoming the eighth accused to be caught.

Desai said, “The team had developed intelligence that Yadav was going to meet his girlfriend at Ahmedabad railway station, and so they went there and successfully apprehended him. When they reached Surat, they called the police station and asked for additional personnel since he is… aggressive. He then asked to exit the vehicle as he wanted to vomit. Then he attacked the police team with a stone and then tried to snatch the pistol. In self-defence, the SI fired at him, hitting him in the leg. His condition is stable.”

The Surat City Police are in the process of booking Yadav under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act.