UP girl killing 8212; Inspector arrested, cops missing8217;

Smita Bhaduri, a 20-year-old college student, was shot dead while she was travelling in a car with a college friend near here Friday evening. The girl was a Bachelor of Science final year student and the boy a Bachelor of Commerce final year student.

A police party, called to the spot by a suspicious villager, wrongly believed there were criminals in the car and opened fire, said Senior Superintendent of Police R P Singh. The youth in the car, Mohit Tyagi, saved himself by surrendering to the police with his hands raised in theair. He was, however, beaten up, said his father, Radha Kishan Tyagi, a businessman.The metallic golden car UP-15J-0898 was about 150 metres off the main road on a kuchcha track with rolled up tinted glass on all the four windows.

According to SSP Singh, it all started when a farmer working in his field nearby got suspicious on spotting the parked car and alerted the Daurala police station. He was being extra vigilant because on January 11 a truck had been looted8217; at a dhaba close to this police station. All the goods, along with the tyres and some money, were reported to have been taken away.

The police station this time despatched a three-member team armed with .38 service revolvers and 303 rifles. On seeing the police jeep approach, the car started moving, leading to a chase. The police say their men asked the driver to stop, to no avail. A warning shot was fired in the air and then the vehicle was targeted, said Gupta.

Six rounds were fired at the car. Two bullet marks were found on the frontwindscreen, one on the rear screen and another on the rear seat, just behind the driver8217;s seat. The fifth was found on a small window above the rear door on the right, while the sixth bullet struck the girl in the neck, the DIG said.

This last shot was, for some reason, found on the left side of the girl8217;s neck though all the shots, according to police sources, were fired from the right side of the vehicle. Moreover, no window on the left was shattered.

Explained the DIG: 8220;The shots fired would have to be carefully examined to explain the wound on the left side. Some of the bullet marks could be entry points while the others could be exit points. The only reason could be that at the time of the shooting the girl may have turned her head either backwards or towards the boy at the wheel.8221; At Daurala police station, however, the policemen were quoting from what they said was the post-mortem report 8212; the girl had suffered two bullet wounds.