Dacoits strike again, this time with cops just 2 km away
LUCKNOW: In what could be dubbed as a cruel coincidence for cops, the Monday/Tuesday night dacoity in two Malihabad villages on Lucknow’s outskirts took place when a team of police officials — led by additional director general (ADG) — was camping within 2 km of the crime spot.
Ironically, the team, formed in the wake of back-to-back dacoities, was out on midnight assignment to monitor night patrolling and avert another such incident.
But with Tuesday’s dacoity, it became three in five days.
Unmindful of cops’ presence at a metaphorically stone’s throw away distance, the gang of over dozen of armed dacoits unleashed terror for close to an hour, killed a former village pradhan’s son, shot at an elderly man and injured eight others, including five women.
Done with what seems to be becoming a routine for them, the assailants took away cash and valuables worth ₹15 lakh from four houses in the two villages.
Again ironically, what wasn’t unusual was the climax, where in cops arrived soon after the criminals left.
“I myself was present in Malihabad area when information about the presence of dacoits in Munshikheda and Sarawa villages came. The police team reached the spot immediately but the gang managed to escape. Despite multiple hours of combing in the adjoining villages, they could not be traced,” said ADG, Lucknow zone, Abhay Prasad.
The gang has struck thrice in Chinhat, Kakori and Malihabad villages in five days but police have failed to stop them.
Pawan Rawat, one of the victims in Sarawa village, said the police team was hardly 150 metres away from his house when dacoits escaped after killing his brother Shyamu Rawat, 40, and injuring his neighbour Chatrapal Yadav, 65. He said the assailants attacked him and his family with rods during which Shyamu suffered fatal injuries on head and died during treatment in King George Medical University’s (KGMU) trauma centre. Pawan and Shyamu’s wife Geeta suffered injuries in leg and hand.
Neeraj Kannuajia, a resident of Munshikheda, said the dacoits first stormed into his house, barely 750 meters from Malihabad police station, and held his family hostage.
He said the assailants attacked his family members sleeping inside and badly injured his mother Munni Devi, elder brothers Dayaram Kannuajia’s wife Preeti and Mayaram’s wife Sangeeta, sister Madhu and nephew Sagar.
Dayaram and Mayaram does laundry work in Saudi Arabia while Neeraj remained unhurt as the assailants could not spot him sleeping in another portion of the house. He said the assailants did not open fire and only threatened after taking them on gunpoint. He said they took away around ₹ 50,000 and jewellery worth ₹ 6 lakh.
The assailants next stormed into the adjoining Kanhaiya Lal Kannuajia’s house but they remained confined in one portion of the house and fled after collecting ₹ 30,000 and jewellery worth ₹ 2.5 lakh. The family came to know only in the morning that dacoits had also searched their house.
The gang then moved towards adjoining Sarawa village and broke into the house of Shyamu and Pawan Rawat, barely 1.5 kilometer from the previous crime spot, at around 3am.
Pawan said the assailants took away over ₹ 5 lakh cash that they had kept to purchase a mango orchard this season. His father Parmeshewar Rawat was former pradhan of the same village.
Thereafter, they tried breaking into the house of Chatrapal Yadav and opened fire on him. Yadav suffered bullet injuries in his leg but the assailants had to escape as his neighbour and the sitting village pradhan, Awadesh Kumar Yadav’s family woke up after hearing the bullet sound.
The village pradhan opened retaliatory firing from his licensed weapon. Moreover, the police team also reached the spot after getting an alert call from villagers.
Five posers for police *Every crime follows a pattern, and criminals leave behind evidence. Are we failing to read the pattern despite repetitive strikes?
*The gangs are consistent with timings, and so are the cops by reaching crime spot after the crime. What’s the one thing that can help cops better the timing of night patrolling?
*Like cricket, placing of players, is significant in nabbing criminals. Do we need to re-look at the placement of pickets and patrolling vehicles?
*Cops are reaching crime spot within minutes of the gang escaping. It is followed with long combing around, but with no results. Are there moles within, helping criminals decamp?
*If law and order is a priority, and cops are on their toes, what we actually need to do to avert such daring dacoities?