The Dadri police have ordered an enquiry into allegations that sub-inspector Akhtar Khan was abandoned by his team during a raid during which he was shot dead by criminals.
Khan, 40, was leading a team that raided a hideout of criminals Furkan and Javed at Nai Abadi in Dadri, 30 km from Delhi.
His family and witnesses questioned the response of the raiding party after Khan was shot in the encounter that lasted over an hour.
“More than 12 policemen were there but no one came forward to pull him out. All of them ran for cover and kept hiding till the criminals fled from the spot. Till that time, Khan had lost too much blood and died. I have heard that he was taken to the hospital at about 6am while the firing occurred at about 4.10am. What was the team doing for nearly two hours?” asked Mohammad Shahrukh, a cousin of Khan who came from Aligarh to receive the body.
He said the police team did not work professionally and failed to save Khan after he was injured.
“When they knew that the suspects were armed, then why did they keep Khan in front of them? It shows the police team does not have enough experience to handle such situations. I would request the police to take action against the officers who left Khan after he was shot,” said Shahrukh.
The house of the suspects is in the middle of a narrow lane in Nai Abadi. When the suspects started firing, the police team was exposed to the bullets and did not have any shelter to take cover.
They ran to take cover at the end of the lane and fired retaliatory shots, police said.
“An inquiry will be conducted in the allegations levelled. If anyone is found lax in performing his duty, strict action will be taken against him,” said Abhishek Yadav, superintendent of police (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar.
Shahrukh said Akhtar’s brother Yaseen Khan works with UP police and is posted in Aligarh.