Days after police teams were attacked in Kanpur and Bulandshahr, the Uttar Pradesh police came under fire in a village in Aligarh where three of its personnel were injured in an attack by the family and accomplices of an alleged smuggler and manufacturer of illicit liquor.
The incident happened in Sankra village of Dadon area of Aligarh when a team of at least a dozen police personnel went to arrest Jagan Mallah, wanted in the smuggling of illicit liquor.
The team included a sub-inspector from Dadon police station, the police post in-charge of the village and two women constables.
Attacked with rods
According to local sources, when the police detained Jagan and made him sit in their vehicle, his daughter and son rushed towards the policemen with sticks and the women members of the family started throwing stones from the rooftop of his residence.
“The police personnel tried to stand their ground for sometime but were overwhelmed by the intensity of stone-pelting. They were also attacked with rods and sticks,” said Brijesh Yadav, pradhan of Sankra village.
In the melee, he said, Sub-Inspector Harikesh Yadav was hit on the head and lost consciousness.
Two women constables were also injured.
Confirming the sequence of events, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Atul Sharma said, “The injured police personnel were taken to Chharra community health centre and are out of danger. Later, another team under SHOs of two police stations was sent to nab the culprits but by then they had escaped.”
Right now, teams drawn from five police stations are conducting combing operations in the area, he added.
Mr. Yadav said the whole village was worried over the illegal activities of Jagan.
Liquor seized
According to the police, Jagan has many furnaces in a nearby village where 400 litres of illicit liquor is manufactured every day.
“Two months ago, the police had raided his unit and seized 250 litres of liquor but Jagan and his son had managed to escape,” said an official.
