Mumbai cops forget to carry firearms, fool criminal into surrendering by using flashlight

Smart thinking on the part of the police team which has laid a trap to arrest an externed criminal helped them accomplish the task despite forgetting their firearms. One of them used a flashlight to fool the accused and made him surrender.

With civic elections around the corner, police are leaving no stone unturned to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. As part of this process, they are keeping an eye on the activities and locations of criminals externed from Mumbai.

Tardeo police learnt that one such criminal, Salim Ismail Shaikh alias Salim Petrol, 27, who was externed in December 2016, was spotted in their jurisdiction.

An officer from Tardeo police station said, “We have been ordered to conduct thorough inquiries so that we have peaceful elections. We got a tip-off that Shaikh, a history-sheeter who was externed from Mumbai in 2016, was spotted in our jurisdiction. He is one of those criminals who don’t think twice before attacking police personnel. We learnt that he was seen entering his Tusliwadi residence.”

In the past, Shaikh had managed to evade arrest by jumping through the window of his residence when the police were about to enter it through the front door.

“So this time we laid a trap on both the sides of his house. While two policemen guarded the door, two others were deployed near the window through which he had escaped last time. Only one of the two was supposed to carrying his firearm,” the officer said.

As expected, Shaikh jumped out of the window and landed in front of the officers waiting for him. However, he started manhandling the two officers. Sensing that Shaikh could hurt them grievously, one of the officers asked his partner to use his firearm.

“The officer who was asked to brandish his service revolver had forgotten it. So when his senior asked him to use his firearm while Shaikh was manhandling him, the officer, showing presence of mind, placed a flashlight at Shaikh’s back and asked him to stop or else he would shoot him. It worked and Shaikh surrendered,” said an officer.

Shiakh was arrested and booked under sections 142 (penalty for entering without permission area from which a person is directed to remove himself or overstaying when permitted to, return temporarily) under the Bombay Police Act, 1951, and is in judicial custody.

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