Uttarakhand: UP Cops Face Murder Case After BJP Leader’s Wife Killed in Shootout

The UP police was searching for a mining mafia who was believed to be hiding at the BJP leader's house.

Uttarakhand Police has registered a murder case against nearly 12 Uttar Pradesh police officers, after the wife of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was killed in a clash that broke out during UP police’s search for a criminal believed to be involved in mining mafia.

The incident took place in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district on Wednesday evening, 12 October, when a UP police team from Thakurdwara raided the house of local BJP leader Gurtaj Bhullar.

The UP police was out to catch a man named Zafar, who had a bounty of Rs 50,000 on his head and was believed to be hiding at Bhullar’s house.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

When the police team in plain clothes reached Bhullar's house in Bharatpur village, an argument broke out between both the sides, resulting in firing in which Bhullar's wife Gurpreet Kaur was killed.

A woman, claimed to be wife of Gurtaj Singh Bhullar, BJP block pramukh in Uttarakhand Udham Singh Nagar caught bullet allegedly in the exchange of fire during the raid. She succumbed to the bullet injuries. pic.twitter.com/oWnSRUSjCl

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) October 12, 2022

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Following the incident, angry villagers blocked the highway in protest, and were joined by Kashipur MLA Trilok Singh Cheema, Gadarpur MLA Arvind Pandey and former MP Balraj Passi.

The blockade was lifted only at 11 pm after the district police persuaded the villagers.

'UP COPS TAKEN HOSTAGE'

Udham Singh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manjunath TC said the UP Police team did not inform their Uttarakhand counterparts about the action in advance. 

After the death of the BJP leader's wife, angry villagers allegedly took four policemen hostage and took away their weapons.

The policemen were later released and treated at a hospital.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Police has registered a case against 10 to 12 personnel of Uttar Pradesh Police under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy) following a complaint filed by the family of the deceased, the SSP said.