‘Soft-spoken… always ready for field duty’: Colleagues remember Noida cop killed in raid, honoured by UP CM

According to Noida Police, Saurabh had been posted at the Phase 3 police station for three years. The team had gone to the village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Ghaziabad’s Masuri police station, to arrest Qadir (22) who had 16 cases of theft and robbery registered against him.

“On May 25, when the team went to arrest Qadir, his associates fired at the police and pelted stones with the intention to kill. Constable Saurabh was seriously injured when a bullet hit his head. He was taken to Yashoda Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” the Noida police had said in its statement after Saurabh’s death.

In a purported video that had gone viral on social media, Constable Saurabh, dressed in blue jeans and a sky blue shirt, was seen lying on the road in a pool of blood while two policemen made phone calls. In another video, he was seen being carried and placed in an auto rickshaw by three men.

His colleagues recall him as “soft-spoken, hardworking and always ready for field duty”.

During the ceremony in Lucknow, the UP Chief Minister paid homage to police personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2024–25 — including STF Inspector Sunil Kumar, Chief Constable Durgesh Kumar Singh of Jaunpur, and Constable Saurabh Kumar of Gautam Buddha Nagar.

While honouring the families of the martyrs, he said the sacrifices of police personnel are “an invaluable asset to the state and the nation” and assured full government support to their families. “Their courage and sense of duty inspire generations to serve with integrity and devotion,” he added.

Based on his colleague sub-inspector Sachin Rathi’s complaint, an FIR was registered against Qadir, his brothers and several others under sections of murder and assaulting public servants.

In the FIR, Rathi had stated that he, along with sub-inspectors Udit Singh, Nikhil and Sachin, and constables Saurabh, Sandeep Kumar and Sonit, reached Nahal after a tip-off. “When we identified ourselves and showed our ID cards, Qadir shouted, ‘Policemen are arresting me, catch them and kill them.’ A large crowd gathered and started firing and pelting stones. Saurabh was hit in the head,” the FIR read.

The team had managed to escape with Qadir, even as bullets continued to be fired.

Ghaziabad Police had later arrested two men, Nanhu and Abdul, during a vehicle check near the Delhi-Meerut Expressway underpass following a shootout.

Noida Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh had also announced a contribution of Rs 1 lakh from her salary to Saurabh’s family, while all senior police personnel in Gautam Buddha Nagar donated a day’s pay in his memory.

Saurabh, a resident of Shamli district, had joined the UP Police in 2016. “He was a BCom graduate and always wanted to be in uniform. My son sacrificed his life for the country, what else can I say,” his father, Uttam Kumar, had said at the time.