Surat: Four history-sheeters were arrested for allegedly attacking two constables of the Salabatpura police station who stopped their rickshaw for checking in the early hours of Tuesday.
Out of the four accused, two fled to Vadodara in the rickshaw that the cops tried to stop. They were caught in a joint operation with the Vadodara cops, while the other two were apprehended in Surat. The accused also changed the number plate of the rickshaw to evade arrest.
According to police, all four were under the influence of drugs when they attacked the constables.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone-4) Vijaysingh Gurjar said: “We arrested Mohammad Tufel Hanif Shaikh (30) and Hanif alias Monu Shaikh (24) from Vadodara, while the other two accused, Abdul Sahil Shaikh (28) and Nitin alias Langdo Jadav, were arrested in Surat. Tufel has seven serious offences registered against him, including murder. Hanif and Abdul also have a criminal history. We will check if anyone is on conditional bail or not. If we find any such thing, we will proceed to get their bails cancelled.”
During the investigation, the police found that the accused consumed some narcotic tablets at the time of the incident, so they were under the influence of drugs.
The incident took place when constables Punjabhai and Bhupendrabhai tried to stop the rickshaw in the Bhathena area on Tuesday early morning. As they approached the rickshaw, the accused fled towards the Athwalines area. Once they reached Nanpura, the four alighted and started beating the constables and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons.
The Salabatpura police launched an investigation only after the CCTV footage of the attack went viral, and senior police officials came to know that two constables were beaten with the sticks they were holding. Injured constable Punjabhai filed a complaint with Athwalines almost 20 hours after the incident.
