Cop dies in raid, mates accused of fleeing

Dadri: A sub-inspector died during a failed UP Police operation to nab gangsters hiding in a house in Greater Noida's Dadri early on Monday. All four gangsters the police team had set out to arrest in the pre-dawn raid managed to flee.
The death of 40-year-old Akhtar Khan led to a barrage of questions and accusations directed at UP Police by the policeman's family and local residents, who accused Khan's team members of fleeing after he got shot and returning to the spot over an hour later.
Police vehemently denied that, saying the raiding team faced a volley of gunfire and was forced to take cover and call for reinforcements. Probe has been ordered into the raid by IG (Meerut range) Sujeet Pandey. Including Khan, the team had 12 members.
Khan, who was posted at Dadri police station since June 11, 2014, was the first to enter the house in the Nai Basti area where the gangster were holed up, police said. He was shot in the neck and bled to death before his team members could rescue him. The raid began around 3.40am. Khan was shot around 4.10am when the police team attempted to move in after exchanging several rounds of fire.
Khan's cousin Mohd Shahrukh demanded a probe by into the raiding team's role by an agency other than the police. "Khan could have been survived if immediately provided medical aid. His body was recovered nearly two hours after the shootout from the scene. The gate was opened by some other cop, Akhtar was behind him," Shahrukh said. Shahrukh lives nearby but came to know about the shootout only around 6am. He claimed to have gathered the information from others who witnessed the shooting. A man who lives next to Furkhan's house said after the shooting of Khan, he saw cops at the spot only around 5.30am.
The house is in a crowded area, where families live cheek by jowl, and belongs to Furkan. The man police were after was Javed. Gautambudh Nagar SSP Kiran S said Dadri police station had received a tip-off that Javed was staying in Furkan's house and decided to conduct a raid to nab him. "Akhtar went inside the house. The criminals inside opened fire on him. He was struck by a bullet in the neck and died on the scene while the criminals managed to flee." He added, "We are trying to establish the chain of events. Javed is wanted in several criminal cases in Delhi and UP. We have recovered some pistols and live cartridges from the house."
Dadri DSP Anurag Singh defended the raiding team, saying they didn't leave the site but took cover. "Khan was shot in the neck and fell on the ground. The raiding party took cover and fired retaliatory shots but the suspects managed to flee. Khan was rushed to Dadri government hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival." Singh said.
Khan, who joined the force in 1998 as a constable, was posted as in-charge of Kot police post of Dadri. Originally from Aligarh, he had cleared the internal exams to become a sub-inspector. Khan was the eldest of three siblings, two brothers and a sister. He married Raziya Begum in 2000 and has two sons, Anas (11) and Ayan (6) and a daughter Rabiya (9). The UP government announced Rs 20 lakh compensation to his family.