Cop chasing miscreants in Seoni shot, dies

Our Correspondent

SEONI,

A head constable died after he was shot while chasing a group of miscreants in Seoni district, police said on Friday.

Head Constable Rakesh Thakur died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur of neighbouring Maharashtra, an official said. There was firing on the police team that went to arrest the criminals in Seoni on Thursday night. After first-aid in the district hospital, he was referred to Nagpur, where he died at around 5 am. Dundaseoni police station was arresting criminals involved in different crimes at around 10 pm on Thursday night. The police team had gone to Chhindwara bypass area. Meanwhile, a criminal opened fire at the team. One bullet hit head constable, Rakesh Thakur and he was seriously injured.

SDOP, Purushottam Maravi said, the bullet had hit the head constable above his waist near his heart. He was undergoing treatment in Nagpur. After post-mortem in Nagpur, his body will be brought to Seoni in the afternoon. The last rites will be performed here in Dobh village of Kewalari. Jabalpur Zone IG, Umesh Joga and Chhindwara Range DIG, Sachin Atulkar will attend the funeral. SP Rakesh Kumar Singh said, the police team had gone to arrest four accused. The team had caught three accused Janak Singh, Praveen Vaishnav, Gulshan. The fourth accused Saddam opened fire to save his comrades. Head constable, Rakesh Thakur was injured in the shoot-out. Saddam, who fired the bullet, fled from the spot. Remaining accused are in police custody they are being interrogated. The SP said that the hideout of criminals who committed theft in Seoni is in Kasgator bypass in Dundaseoni police station. After getting information, Dundaseoni police went after them.

Lakhanwara police station located on Chhindwara Road was also informed. Here the team of Lakhanwara police station set-up a blockade. Seeing Lakhanwara police, the accused returned to the Innova. After this Dundaseoni police took action. There were four policemen in the team. The police team included Head Constable, Rakesh Thakur, Head Constable Shekhar Baghel, Constable Vinay Choria and Constable Ajay Baghel. Accused Janak Singh and Saddam are residents of Mehgaon in Bhind district. Accused Praveen Vaishnav and Gulshan are residents of Nainpur in Mandla district. Rakesh Thakur was a resident of Kewalari in Seoni. He has two daughters and a son. Father is Virendra Thakur and mother is Ramdevi Thakur. Rakesh has five brothers Raja Babu, Rajesh, Yashwant, Rakesh and Tarun. His education was completed in Kevalari. Preparation for competition exam was done in Seoni. He had been in the police department for almost 17 years.