Cop gets bravery award: Shouting ‘thain-thain’ when gun jammed was strategic, says Sambhal SP

The Sambhal sub-inspector (S-I) shot to fame when a video of him mimicking gunshots as “thain-thain” went viral.

The Sambhal police have come out in defence of their colleague who mimicked gunshots when his guns jammed during an encounter.
Sambhal SP Yamuna Prasad, who has said he would present a certificate of bravery to S-I Manoj Kumar for his “quick thinking”, said that Kumar’s actions were consistent with police strategy in such situations.

“This was a strategic step for many reasons. First, many police teams were coming in from different sides. His reaction let other teams know their location so that there is no friendly-fire. Also, in some encounters we scream ‘maaro-maaro’ and ‘pakdo-pakdo’ to startle the criminal. This will tell him that he is surrounded and would rather surrender,” said Prasad. “All these things were presented in bad light on social media and the S-I was made a villain. I asked the Additional SP for a detailed report on the encounter and he informed that the encounter went on for a long time. The criminals were hiding and what S-I Kumar showed was quick thinking. I would give a certificate to the five-member police team and recommend them for DGP commendation.”

The Sambhal sub-inspector (S-I) shot to fame when a video of him mimicking gunshots as “thain-thain” went viral.

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“The police teams were looking for a criminal named Rukhshaad aka Bhatija, who had a reward of Rs 25,000 on him. He was wanted in Sambhal Kotwali and has around 18-19 cases against him. We got information that he was in the Asmauli police station area and we surrounded him. In the encounter, one of our constables suffered injuries and the criminal was also injured,” said SP Prasad. “We got information that two of his associates were hiding in the forest area and so a team with the Additional SP, Sambhal CO and force of three-four police stations was sent in that area for combing. During the encounter, SI Manoj Kumar’s weapon jammed, which happens sometime. He tried to fix it but to no avail. So as a last resort, he made those noises.”

While many Twitter users ridiculed it, SP Prasad commended his colleague. S-I Manoj Kumar, posted at the Asmauli police station, refused to speak on the episode.