Brave heart cop helps nab dacoit
Dragged For 200 Mtrs As He Held On To Steering Wheel Of Suspects’ Jeep
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Pune: The daring act of a c o n s t abl e helped the Pune rural police nab a suspect belonging to a six-member gang that allegedly committed a dacoity at a f a r m e r ’s house at Ranjani village near Manchar — about 60 km from here — in the wee hours of Friday.
Police constable S N Swami held on to the steering wheel of a jeep in which the suspects were trying to flee. He was dragged for nearly 200 metres, after which the driver lost control of the vehicle and it crashed to a halt.
The gang of six dacoits had forced their way into farmer Laxman Nana Bhor’s house around 2 am on Friday. They threatened the Bhor family with sharp weapons; snatched Bhor’s gold ring, his wife Sunita’s gold chain, other silver ornaments and cash of Rs 8,000, and fled. The Bhors immediately informed the Manchar police about the incident.
Assistant police inspector Dyaneshwar Ganore of the Manchar police told TOI, “Our team immediately rushed to the spot. Bhor showed us the direction in which the suspects had fled.”
Members of the Gram Surksha Dal also gathered to help the police. “When we were heading towards Belhe road, we saw a jeep that looked suspicious. Seeing our police jeep, it started gathering speed, but we gave chase and blocked its path, bringing it to a halt. There were six persons in the jeep. The driver told us that they were coming from Bhimashankar,” Ganore said.
“Police constable S N Swami tried to remove the key from the ignition. However, the driver started the jeep and drove towards Nimgaon Sava village with constable Swami holding on to the steering wheel. Swami was dragged for about 200 metres and fell to the road, a few meters away from us,” Ganore said.
The driver, meanwhile, lost control of the jeep and it overturned. Gram Surksha Dal members, who were present, immediately pulled one of the suspects out of the vehicle and started thrashing him. “We ran towards the jeep and managed to rescue the man from the clutches of the Gram Surksha Dal members. However, the other suspects managed to escape,” Ganore said.
The police recovered sandalwood and weapons from the jeep. The suspect has been identified as Rajendra Sitaram Jadhav (25) of Pathardi in Ahmednagar district. “We have sent a team to Pathardi to look for the other suspects,” Ganore said.
Investigations have revealed that the gang was involved in many sandalwood thefts in the district, Ganore further said.
A close shave
Pune: “If I could have managed to remove the keys from the jeep, we would have been able to nab all the suspects,” said police constable S N Swami.
“As the driver told us they were coming from Bhimashankar, we became suspicious. I tried to remove the keys from the ignition, but the driver started the jeep and increased its speed. My hand was stuck in the steering wheel, while my body was suspended outside the jeep.
I somehow managed to hold on to the wheel,” he said.
“One of them hit my hand with a weapon and due to the impact, I fell on the road,” Swami added. TNN
S N Swami
