Lucknow:

Not content with being arrested for thrashing a policeman, two men from Uttar Pradesh decided to take things up a notch and fired at three police personnel after snatching their rifles while being taken for a medical check-up. A sub-inspector and two constables were injured and the two men were also shot in the leg.

After a child was run over by a speeding bus in Mahoba, about 260 km from Lucknow, on Monday, a policeman who was part of a team which had gone to disperse an angry crowd and ease a traffic jam had been beaten up by some people. The other members of the team had fled. The police had later registered a case and made five arrests. 

When they were being taken to a hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday, the accused and the police personnel, from Panwari police station in Mahoba, stopped for a washroom break. This was when two of the five accused – 45-year-old Parshuram and 22-year-old Monu – snatched the rifles of two of the police personnel and opened fire. 

Sub-inspector Surendra and constables Ankit Singh and Mithun were injured and the two men were shot in their legs when the police personnel returned fire. All five have been admitted to a hospital.

Mahoba Superintendent of Police Aparna Gupta said, “A case had been registered against five people for misbehaving with, and beating up, a policeman on Monday. The sub-inspector was trying to ease a traffic jam when he was beaten up. They were being taken for a medical check-up when they snatched the rifles of some police personnel and opened fire. A sub-inspector and two constables have suffered minor injuries.”