UP cop shot dead,sand mafia under scanner

The Inspector General (Allahabad Zone),Deputy Inspector General,Senior Superintendent of Police and other officials rushed to the spot. Additional Director General (Law and Order) Arun Kumar also reached Allahabad from Lucknow.

According to the police,a Tata Indigo car had been stolen from one Bhimsen Patel of Bara around 10 days ago and an FIR of loot was lodged in this connection. Today,around 11.15 am,Patel spotted his car at a petrol pump in Shivrajpur locality on the border of Bara and Shankergarh police station areas.

“Patel informed the police. Immediately,SO of Bara R P Dwivedi decided to check the information. He reached the petrol pump in his private vehicle,a Maruti WagonR. However,the looted vehicle had left the petrol pump. He then drove ahead on the Chitrakoot road and spotted the vehicle at a distance of about 1 km at a place called Digahiya,” said Deputy Inspector General (Allahabad Range) Dr N Ravinder.

Dwivedi overtook the vehicle and forced it to stop. “Three persons were present in the vehicle. They began grappling with the SO in a bid to escape. One of them whipped out a firearm and shot at him from close range. Dwivedi died on the spot,the assailants escaped,” said Dr Ravinder.

Dwivedi’s body was brought to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital where a post-mortem examination was conducted in the afternoon.

Police sources said the matter was being investigated from all the angles,including the involvement of silica sand mafia. Shankergarh has a large number of silica sand mines.

“It is true that the administration had taken some action against illegal silica sand mining a few days ago. However,at this point,there is no evidence to relate today’s incident with that issue. Things will become clear once the culprits are identified and arrested,” said Dr Ravinder.

Dwivedi,a sub-inspector of the 2001 batch,was a native of Sultanpur district. He is survived by his wife and two children,a daughter and a son.