The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Fleeing from police, land-grabbers meet with mishap; 8 killed
Came to Rajasthan from Haryana, opened fire on police
EIGHT PEOPLE were killed when a group of land-grabbers from Haryana, fleeing from police after shooting at them, rammed their Bolero Camper into another vehicle in Churu district of Rajasthan Sunday.
Churu Superintendent of Police Bharat Rahul Manhardan said, “Two brothers from Haryana had a dispute over some land in Churu’s Kohina village. On Sunday, one party came from Haryana to grab the property — about 12 bighas — that reportedly belonged to one of the brothers, Jai Singh Jat. They had come in two Bolero Campers.”
“We were informed about them when they tried to seize the land. A police team went to the spot but they fired at them and fled,” said Manhardan.
Bhaleri Police Station SHO Shyam Singh, under whose jurisdiction the village comes, said, “We were pursuing them but they managed to evade us. We then received the news about an accident involving one of their vehicles.”
SP Manhardan said the vehicle rammed into a car, killing three of the fleeing men on the spot and three others in the other vehicle. Police said two others who were grievously injured in the accident were picked by the men in the second Bolero Camper and dropped at a hospital. The two, however, died soon after.
The police later caught the men in the second vehicle, who had fled after dropping the injured at the hospital.
“Two of them were undergoing treatment while we have taken five others in custody. We have also recovered two tractors. At this point, it is still unclear how many people came from Haryana,” the SP said.
Till midnight, three FIRS had been registered in the case — one by the police for the attack on them, second by the family of the victims with whose car the Bolero Camper collided, and a third FIR by Jai Singh Jat.
The police were also verifying reports of firing by the rival group in the village at the landgrabbers. Sources said the fleeing men were also chased by men from belonging to the rival faction in other vehicles.
The police identified two of the men from Haryana who were killed in the accident as Vijay and Rajender. The three in the other vehicle that met with the accident were identified as Islam (25), Jannat Bano (35) and Rukhsar Bano (12).
According to the police, when the injured were brought to the hospital, one of them, identified as Neeraj, fled with the help of some unidentified persons while he was being taken for a CT scan. WITH INPUTS FROM
CHANDIGARH