Constable not killed in road accident but murdered, cop suspended: Satna SP

A police constable who was said to have met with an accident and died in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna on Sunday evening was murdered during his attempt to check black marketing of diesel, the district’s superintendent of police (SP) said on Monday.

Riyaz Iqbal said the police station in-charge concerned Ashish Dhruve, who had informed his seniors that constable Prabal Pratap Singh had died in an accident, was placed under suspension.

Iqbal said Singh was on patrolling duty on Sunday evening when he spotted a tractor-trolley at Gupt Godavari turning point on the state’s border with Uttar Pradesh. He found that diesel was illegally being transported on the tractor-trolley.

Singh, who was on a motorcycle, asked the accused Dhanpat Patel and Pramod Patel, both residents of Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh, to follow him to the police station with the tractor-trolley.

Iqbal said the accused followed Singh for some distance but suddenly turned towards Uttar Pradesh. When the constable tried to stop them he was run over by the accused and killed. The accused left the trolley behind and fled the spot on the tractor.

“The police station in-charge Ashish Dhruve told us that it was a case of an accident but when we reached the spot at night and talked to people in the area we came to know it was a case of murder,” the senior officer said.

“An FIR under section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was lodged against the accused and Dhruve suspended for providing us misleading information,” he added.

Iqbal said four teams of police personnel have been formed to look for the accused.

“However, they have not been arrested as yet.”