Attack on Patna cops: Police still grope in dark

PATNA: Even after the passage of more than 24 hours, police have so far not been able to arrest anyone involved in thrashing two constables near Krishna Ghat under the Pirbahore police station area in Patna.
The two constables – Santosh Kumar and Rajesh Paswan – were deployed on the banks of the Ganga for maintaining law and order during New Year celebrations. As they confronted some youths for playing objectionable songs on their cellphones and passing lewd comments on girls, they got infuriated and attacked him.
An FIR was lodged against at least 20 unknown youths with Pribahore police station on Thursday on the basis of injured constable Santosh’s statement.
SHO of Pribahore police station Rizwan Ahmed Khan said the youths involved in the attack were yet to be identified. “As it was riverbank, there was no CTTV camera in the vicinity. As a result, identifying the guilty youths is a tough task,” he added.
Patna College police temporary outpost (TOP) incharge Manoj Kumar Singh said the two constables had addressed the youths as ‘bachcha’ while attempting to stop them from passing lewd comments on girls.
“However, instead of listening to their polite request, few youths attacked them with rods, bats and other blunt weapons,” Singh said, adding the two policemen received deep cut wounds. He said the two constables were undergoing training for promotion at new police lines from where they were sent on duty to the ghat.
Three held with arms: Police arrested three criminals from a place near Patna Junction under the Kotwali police station area in the wee hours of Friday and seized a country-made pistol, four live cartridges, seven cellphones and a bike from their possession. The arrested criminals – Ashwani Swaraj alias Sonu, Sunny Kumar and Ajeet Kumar – were involved in several cellphone snatching cases. The three are residents of Indranagar under the Kankarbagh police station area. Police said an FIR for possession of illegal arms and ammunition was registered with Kotwali police station against the three arrested criminals.
One arrested: Police arrested one Suman Kumar from Jyotipuram Colony under the Rajeev Nagar police station area in the city late on Thursday night and seized a country-made firearm and a live cartridge from his possession. A senior police officer said it was being probed whether Suman, a resident of Sarai under the Maner police station area in western Patna, had any criminal antecedent.