A sub-inspector (SI) was crushed to death by a vehicle in Jharkhand's Ranchi in the wee hours of Wednesday, 21 July, after a pickup van suspected to be carrying smuggled cattle ran her over during vehicle checking.
The incident took place in Tupudana area at around 3 am, as the police was running a vehicle checking campaign early in the morning. SI Sandhya Topno was trampled to death by the pickup van laden with cattle.
She was subsequently rushed to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
The suspected animal smugglers, whose number was not known, managed to escape, while the driver of the van has been arrested and the vehicle has been taken into custody.
Senior police officers reached the spot soon after the incident, and are probing the matter. Later in the day, Ranchi SSP Kishore Kaushal said that one more person, Nigaar Khan, had been inside the van, and a search for him is underway, reported news agency ANI.
This comes a day after Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Surendra Singh from Haryana was run over by a truck on Tuesday while probing illegal stone mining in Nuh.
What Had Happened?
As per sources, the Simdega Police received information about the cattle being smuggled in a pickup vehicle. After that, the Basia police station of Simdega chased the pickup van. The driver of the vehicle with animals started speeding. The matter was reported to Kamdara police.
The police put up a barrier in the area, but the driver broke it and ran away. The van then ran past the barrier installed by the Torpa Police, and evaded the Khunti Police as well.
The Ranchi Police was then informed, and it activated checking of vehicles at the Khunti-Ranchi border. When a pickup van was seen approaching, it was signalled to stop. The driver, however, did not halt and speeded away. The patrol party followed.
The speeding pickup van overturned, and the smugglers jumped out of the car and fled. The driver, who got injured, is in the custody of the police. Many animals have also been injured.
The search for the other accused is on.
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