BHOPAL: A rescue mission by police in MP’s Mauganj district ended in disaster on Saturday when the hostage and an assistant sub-inspector were lynched by a mob. Several policemen were injured, including three officers.
TOI spoke with subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Ankita Sulya, who led the rescue team. She recounted how she was trapped in a room with the dead hostage and the violent mob on the rampage outside. It was only when she was rescued that she realised ASI Ramcharan Gautam of State Armed Force had been killed.
The administration has claimed prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS.
“An SAF ASI has died. The Shahpur police station in charge and two other officers have sustained injuries. The situation is now under control. A flag march was carried out. We have recovered the victim’s body and rounded up a few accused,” Mauganj SP Rasna Thakur told TOI.
ASI Gautam suffered fatal head injuries in the stone-pelting and died on the spot in Gadra village, around 30km from Mauganj district headquarters and 600km from Bhopal.
Around 3pm on Saturday, police were informed that a youth named Sunny Dwivedi was being held captive and thrashed in Gadra. Police teams from Shahpur responded swiftly but could not get past the villagers who blocked their way and refused to release Sunny.
The cops called their seniors and SDPO Ankita Sulya arrived with reinforcements around 5pm. For the next two hours, Sulya negotiated with villagers, who eventually relented and unlocked the door of the room where Sunny was being held.
“The villagers thought that Sunny was unconscious, but we found he was dead. Hearing this, the locals turned hostile. There were around two dozen police personnel, but locals started pelting stones at them,” Ankita Sulya told TOI.
Police teams from Rewa & Sidhi dists mobilized
Ankita Sulya told TOI, “I, my gunman and another policeman were trapped inside the room for 40-45 minutes before additional forces arrived. Only then could we come out with the body.”
Police teams from neighbouring Rewa and Sidhi districts have been mobilized to ensure there is no escalation of tension.
Trying to understand the root of the dispute, police found that a local identified as Ashok Kumar had died in an accident around two months ago, but some people believed Sunny had killed him.
The tension kept simmering until some locals kidnapped Sunny on Saturday afternoon and dragged him to the village, where they locked him in a room and beat him to death.
