A policewoman on duty was mowed down to death by a pickup van at a check post in Jharkhand capital Ranchi Tuesday night. Sub-Inspector Sandhya Topno was the in-charge of Tupudana police outpost, news agency ANI reported. The accused has been arrested and the Jharkhand Police has seized the vehicle, the Ranchi senior superintendent of police was quoted as saying. This is the second such incident to have been reported in the last 24 hours in the country.
According to ABP News sources, the police got a tip-off that a pickup van was carrying suspicious items, and the sub-inspector asked it to stop at the check post. However, as the van driver did not oblige, Topno came in front of it in a bid to forcefully stop it. The driver still did not stop and allegedly crushed her to death. He fled the scene after the crime but the police traced and arrested him later.
The sources said there were barricades at the check post but the driver broke it and moved forward and Topno had got out of her vehicle to try and stop the pickup van.
Reacting to the incident, Topno's brother raised questions to the police that why was her sister not provided more police officers and requested the case to be heard in a fast-track court.
In a similar incident Tuesday, a deputy superintendent of police probing illegal stone-mining in Haryana's Nuh district died when a truck he had signalled to stop drove into him. Tauru DSP Surendra Singh’s gunman and driver had jumped to safety as the stone-laden dumper-truck headed towards them. Singh had been rushed to hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, the police said.
The police later caught the truck’s cleaner after shooting at and injuring him after a chase.