12 arrested after liquor mafia targets police in Aligarh village

THE PRIME ACCUSED BHOORA, AN OPERATIVE OF THE LIQUOR MAFIA, IS ON THE RUN, ALONG WITH HIS UNCLE.

LUCKNOW: Day after three policemen were assaulted by villagers for acting against liquor mafia in Aligarh’s Adhaun village, police teams on Tuesday arrested 12 of the 24 people named in the FIR.

The prime accused Bhoora, an operative of the liquor mafia, is on the run, along with his uncle.

Sub inspector Siddharth Chaudhary, who led the raid in the Aligarh village, said the police had chased down the prime accused, seized the consignment of illicit liquor filled in pouches and was taking the accused with him to the police station when villagers struck.

Such was the attack that they would have been lynched had some locals not rescued them in their vehicle, said Chaudhary.

“I had my service revolver with me, but had I opened fire, many lives would have been lost. Thankfully, some well-intentioned villagers later rescued me. My eyes are a bit sore, so are my legs due to the assault,” Chaudhary said.

The video of the police party being attacked has since gone viral. “It (video) helped the police in identifying assailants,” said station officer (SO), Akrabad, Rajat Sharma who subsequently raided the village to make arrests.

“We have arrested 12 of the 24 named accused. They have been booked on various charges, including attempt to murder, stopping a police official from carrying their official duty, loot,” SO Akrabad said.

“From whatever I gather, attempt was also made to remove the evidence, of illicit liquor pouches that was seized by police,” district excise officer, Aligarh, Dheeraj Sharma said.

In nearby Hathras too, district excise officer Subodh Srivastava said three persons were arrested and nearly 230 litres of rectified spirit and other material used in the manufacture of illicit liquor were recovered from them.

In a similar incident, a police sub inspector and two police constables were attacked in a Kasganj village by liquor mafia in February.

A police constable had died in the attack while the sub inspector was badly injured. Later, in a retaliatory action, the police killed one of the accused.