Three Arrested, One Injured In Muzaffarnagar Encounter Over Alleged Transformer Theft

Three members of an alleged gang involved in stealing electrical equipment from tubewells and valuable material from transformers have been arrested in Muzaffarnagar after a police encounter. One of the accused was injured after being hit by a bullet during retaliatory firing, police said.

The action was carried out by a joint team of Budhana Police and the SOG Dehat against the gang allegedly involved in stealing electrical equipment, wires and transformer parts. The encounter took place on 30 October on the Mandwada route in Muzaffarnagar.

According to police, the joint team was checking suspicious vehicles and people near Crown Cut. During the checking, the team received information from an informer that members of a gang involved in stealing electrical equipment and transformers were present on the Mandwada route.

When the police team reached the location, the three accused entered a sugarcane field. The police surrounded the field and warned them to surrender. Police said the accused opened fire at the team after refusing to surrender. In the retaliatory action, one accused, Salim alias Chauna, was injured after being shot. His two alleged associates, Lavkush and Sartaj, were arrested during the combing operation.

The police said an illegal pistol, cartridges, copper and aluminium wires, electrical cables, transformer coils, a starter, a damaged controller, stolen equipment, one motorcycle, 49 quarter bottles of liquor and 5 thousand rupees in cash were recovered from the arrested accused.

During questioning, the accused allegedly told police that they had formed an organised gang to steal electrical equipment, wires and transformer material from tubewells. They allegedly sold the stolen material to earn illegal money.

According to police, arrested accused Sartaj works as a scrap dealer. The other accused allegedly sold the stolen material to him. Police also said that the liquor recovered from the accused had been stolen from a liquor outlet in the Ratanpuri area.

The police action led to the detection of a total of eight cases. These include four theft cases in the Shamli Kotwali area, one in Nai Mandi, one in Budhana and two in the Ratanpuri area.

The arrested accused have been identified as Salim alias Chauna, a resident of Nirana under Sikheda police station, who was injured; Lavkush, a resident of Nirana under Sikheda police station; and Sartaj, a resident of Mansurpur.

Police said that injured accused Salim alias Chauna is a history-sheeter and that several criminal cases had already been registered against him. The other two accused also have a criminal history, police said.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of SSP Suraj Kumar Rai. It was conducted under the direction of SP Rural Akshay Sanjay Mahadik and CO Budhana Gajendra Pal Singh. The operation was led by Inspector-in-charge Subhash Babu Atri and SOG Dehat in-charge Mohit Chaudhary.

Police have registered a case against the accused and started further legal action. The report also carries a byte from SP Rural Akshay Sanjay Mahadik.

The report was filed by Anmol Kumar from Muzaffarnagar. The contact number given with the report is 7078215007.