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Drama, shoot out
at Ludhiana Railway Station as one dies
Police claims it caught a KCF militant aftre three hours of stand
off
WSN Network
 LUDHIANA:
In highly dramatic development in the heart of the bustling Ludhiana
city, a three hour shoot out resulted in the killing of a tea vendor
and left two railway Police constables injured before the police
claimed that they have arrested a suspected Khalistan Commando Force
(KCF) militant at the railway station in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Within moments
of the shoot out, police dished out the information that the man was
"Pakistan-trained Balbir Singh Bhootna, wanted in several cases of
crime".
The incident
took place around 3.30 am when, claimed the police, constables
Niranjan Singh and Karampal Singh were conducing routine checking of
luggage of passengers who got off the Pune-Jammu Jhelum Express at
Platform 3.
Police said
Bhootna, along with his wife Sukhwinder Kaur, got off the train --
the couple were coming after paying obeisance at Hazoor Sahib in
Nanded -and went up the bridge at the railway station, where they
were stopped for checking.
"When a .30 bore
Chinesemade pistol was found from the luggage, Bhootna said it was a
licensed weapon but failed to show the papers," said the cops.
 When the
constables tried to arrest him, Bhootna fired from the pistol and
fled towards the other side of the platform. Police claimed he fired
four shots, injuring the constables, who though managed to catch
hold of his wife.
An eyewitness
said while Bhootna was running on the platform, a tea vendor Santosh
grabbed him by the leg and refused to let go despite being
threatened. Bhootna fired at Santosh and hid under the Jhelum
Express. Santosh was rushed to hospital, but died on the way.
For more than
three hours, the stand off coninued with the GRP and Punjab Police
personnel, donning bulletproof vests, asking him to surrender. All
the while Bhootna kept threatening to kill himself if anyone came
close.
It was around 7
am that the cops managed to get hold of him. ADGP (Railways) Chander
Shekhar said Bhootna was involved in over 10 cases of murder,
attempt to murder, TADA, Arms Act, Explosives Act and many others.
GRP constables
Niranjan Singh and Karampal Singh were rushed to CMC and both were
out of danger. While Niranjan received a bullet injury on the neck,
a bullet brushed through Karampal's arm and chest.
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Many
Questions
The entire reportage leaves many questions unanswered:
1. How come
a man so well trained fell so easily in the hands of railway
police personnel when it is well known that the railway cops are
some of the most poorly trained security personnel in
India?
2. What kind of such a hard core militant threaten to kill
himself? Is that an argument that would work with the Punjab
Police?
3. How come the police knew within minutes of the arrest that
the man was trained in Pakistan and belonged to a particular
outfit? |
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26
August 2009
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