Bhonpuram Khabari, US Nagar .
In a piquant situation of Uttarakhand and neighbouring UP police departments being at loggerheads, both have registered cases of heinous crimes against different parties in the district’s infamous Kunda incident.
Notably, a 28-year-old woman in an Uttarakhand village was killed in firing by Uttar Pradesh police which had crossed state borders to catch suspected mining mafia. The incident happened at Bharatpur village under Kunda police station limits in Udham Singh Nagar district at around 7 pm on Wednesday where a joint team of police and special operation group (SOG) from Thakurdwara in UP’s Moradabad had arrived to catch the Rs fifty thousand bounty mining mafia, Zafar Ali, a resident of village Kankarkehra in Moradabad. The police received a tip-off that the bounty criminal was hiding in village Bharatpur at the house of BJP leader and senior Block Pramukh of Jaspur, Gurtaj Bhullar. The deceased has been identified as Gurjeet Kaur, wife of Gurtaj Bhullar.
According to a villager, wishing anonymity, a team of around 10-12 cops, who were in civil dress, was accosted by the Bhullar family when they forcibly barged into their house. “The villagers, who did not realise they were UP police, also gathered at the spot and protested their move. This raised a dispute and which led to pelting of stones. When the Bhullar family along with the villagers retaliated the police action, the UP cops opened fire on them”. Amid the firing, it is alleged that UP police’s bullet hit Gurjeet Kaur, who had been returning from work.
The villagers soon overpowered the police team and held four cops captive while other managed to flee the spot. Local police was informed which soon arrived and took charge. SO Kunda, Vinod Fartyal rushed the injured Kaur to a private hospital where she was declared brought dead. The UP cops were also taken into custody by the Kunda police. However, as soon as the villagers got the news of Kaur’s death, they blocked the national highway 74 demanding immediate arrest of the UP cops. The senior offiicals including DIG Kumaon Neelesh Anand Bharne, SSP Manjunath TC arrived at the spot and pacified the protestors.
Talking to TOI, Gurtaj Bhullar said that there was no exchange of fire with the UP cops. “Four of them were in an inebriated state and went to the first floor of the farmhouse to the ladies’ rooms. When resisted, one of them opened fire which led to my wife’s death. We later held them captive till the polcie arrived and handed them over to the Uttarakhand cops, while they were safe and sound. These four cops managed to escape from local police’s custody from the hospital, which is recorded on camera. They later dodged the Surya police outpost cops too when they successfully entered back in UP and this is also recorded on camera”, said bereaved Bhullar. He further said that a forensic team of Uttarakhand investigated his house on Thursday morning and rubbished the UP polcie claims of cross firing. “It was only the drunk UP cops who opened fire on my family. We decided not to perform my wife’s last rites till the accused are not arrested. But CM Pushkar Singh Dhami talked to me over phone and ensured me of strict actions against the accused UP cops”, Bhullar further said. When asked about the reason behind UP cops barging into his house, Bhullar said that he was in contact with the Thakurdwara police for the surrender of Zafar. but suddenly this unfortunate incident happened out of nowhere.
Notably, the bounty criminal Zafar was absconding after he attacked the Thakurdwara Sub-divisional magistrate and his team while they tried to stop him from illegal mining on September 13 this year.
Kaur was cremated at Bhullar farms later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the district’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manjunath TC said that the incident is subject to a comprehensive investigation. He said that several teams including forensic experts are working on the case. “The incident is very unfortunate. The UP cops neither informed nor sought permission from Uttarakhand police to conduct this raid. Also, when local police approached the spot, they defied the custody in the hospital and fled from there. We have CCTV footage where these UP cops can be seen breaking the barriers at the Surya police outpost as well. We have also recovered a few service (UP Police) weapons from Bhullar’s farmhouse. We are coordinating with the UP police officials and dealing with the case with utmost priority. We will ensure that the bereaved family gets justice”, the apex police officer of the district said.
On the complaint lodged by Gurtaj Singh Bhullar, the Kunda police have filed a case against 10-12 unidentified persons under sections 147 (Rioting), 148 (Rioting while armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offense committed in prosecution of common object), 452 (house-trespass for causing hurt to someone), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (Murder) of the Indian Penal Code, said the police. The officials said that the accused are yet to be identified.
On the contrary, the UP cops alleged that when their team came chasing the criminal, Bhullar’s family not only refused to hand him over but assaulted them and snatched their weapons leading to a scuffle. “The family members also fired at our team, causing serious bullet injuries to three officers including an inspector,” Prashant Kumar, ADG (law & order) UP, said, adding that the “forensic probe will prove whose bullet killed the woman.” Meanwhile, Thakurdwara police of UP on Thursday filed an FIR against Zafar Ali and 30 others for attacking the police team.
