After a dramatic car chase, police nabs five cattle smugglers from UP in Doon

In a dramatic, action-packed car chase, the Dehradun police nabbed five criminals here, with cops as well as the accused sustaining injuries in the ensuing clash late on Monday.

The accused are primarily cattle smugglers, who were wanted in a case of kidnapping of a Doon girl and sexual harassment of another city girl earlier this month, said Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nivedita Kukreti Kumar.

Identified as Raees, Shavez, Naseem, Aijaz and Farman – all hailing from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh - the accused were presented before a Dehradun court of Tuesday, from where they were remanded to judicial custody.

“The accused are prime facie involved in cattle smuggling. Of the five arrested, the main accused Raees is a history sheeter of Saharanpur, who has over 15 cases registered against him in UP including those of cattle smuggling,” the SSP said. In Dehradun, they were wanted in two recent cases of kidnapping and sexual harassment, she added.

On the night of January 13, the accused travelling in a white multi-utility vehicle had kidnapped a girl from the Raipur area of Dehradun before releasing her near the ISBT later on. They had then sexually harassed another girl in the Dehradun Cantt police station area on January 23. Looking at the sensitive nature of the crimes, the SSP formed special police teams which worked to identify the vehicle involved in the twin cases based on CCTV footage.

Acting on a tip off that a similar vehicle was on its way from Saharanpur to Dehradun, a joint police team began checking vehicles at the Asharodi check post located on Dehradun’s outskirts at Uttarakhand-Uttar Pradesh border late on Monday. However, when the police intercepted the white vehicle, the accused not only blazed past the police barrier but also tried to run over the policemen on the spot.

“As we chased them on a private car and a bike, the accused deliberately rammed into our car due to which it toppled, while their (criminals’ car) also got stuck in a drain due to the impact of the collision. They even attacked the policemen before trying to escape from the spot but we managed to catch them with the help of locals,” circle officer (city) Chandra Mohan Singh said.

Criminals as well as cops got injured in the clash and were taken to the Government Doon Medical College Hospital for treatment. They were later booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Clement Town police station on Monday night.

The accused had previously been booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping wrongfully to confine person), 323, 506 at Raipur and 354 (sexual harassment) at Dehradun Cantt police stations.

In December 2017, one person was arrested while four were booked for illegally transporting cattle at Raiwala area of the district. In October, two persons were arrested by the Doon police from Asharodi check post for illegally transporting cattle out of Uttarakhand. Notably, more than 25 accused have been arrested by the cow protection squads in Uttarakhand since their formation in October last year.

Ends