From theft to SOS rescue: Chased by 2,000-strong mob, cattle thieves dial ‘112’

Terrified that they might be lynched by hundreds of people chasing them, a gang of three cattle thieves were rescued by police after they sought help from UP112 emergency helpline, police officials said. The sequence of events, which lasted for around five hours, took place in a village near Bareilly’s Aonla town in the wee hours of Saturday.

Around 2,000 people had surrounded the three men after a local spotted them stealing buffaloes. The trio even fired multiple rounds to scare off the locals. One of them got himself stuck from an iron fence when he tried to hide in a bush. This was when one of the three thieves called 112 seeking help.

Annoyed locals even attacked the first responder police team and chased them away. The three thieves were finally rescued and taken into custody when a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer and the Aonla circle officer (CO) reached the spot with personnel from three police stations.

Aonla CO Neelesh Kumar Mishra told media persons that the incident took place at Dhausganj village of Bhamura police station when a gang of thieves tried to steal buffaloes owned by one Ram Sewak Singh Gurjar and Sipttar Singh.He said Ram Sewak alerted other villagers on spotting the movement of the three thieves identified as Zamal Hussain (48), Sahibe Alam (20) and Mohd Asif (32).

“The thieves tried to escape but villagers chased and surrounded them in the fields. The trio opened fire with the weapons they were carrying, which annoyed the locals even more. Within a few minutes, hundreds of villagers had gathered. Later, the crowd swelled to around 2,000 when people from the adjoining villages of Ferozepur and Tazpur joined,” another police official said.

After the first responders were attacked, police personnel from three stations — Bhamora, Aliganj and Bisrataganj—were rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.