Ahmedabad: A senior officer of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch was injured and a history-sheeter was shot in the leg after the suspect allegedly attacked police with a kitchen knife during questioning following the recovery of illegal firearms in the Chandola area of the city on Thursday.
According to the police, Crime Branch officers, acting on specific intelligence, raided a hut near Chandola Lake after receiving information that Mohammad Kalim alias Kalim Bhai Akbarkhan Pathan, 34, had concealed illegal weapons there.
Officers recovered four firearms and cartridges from the location and completed the required electronic evidence panchnama before questioning the accused.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sharad Singhal, who reached the spot while passing nearby, said the accused suddenly picked up a kitchen knife lying inside the hut and attacked him during the questioning.
“While we were questioning him (accused), there were kitchen knives lying beside him in the kitchen. He picked up one of those knives and tried to attack me near my neck. My natural reaction was to raise my left hand in self-defence, and I sustained a cut on my hand. He struck me two or three times,” Singhal added.
He said that the accused appeared to be under the influence of drugs and ignored repeated warnings to drop the weapon.
“We asked him (accused) to throw away the knife, but he did not listen. I then took Inspector Imran Ghasura’s service revolver and fired one round at his leg. After that he calmed down,” Singhal added.
Both the police officer and the accused were taken to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for treatment.
Police said Kalim was out of danger, while Singhal sustained injuries to his left hand and he is expected to return to duty soon ahead of the Rath Yatra festival.
Singhal clarified that the accused was unaware of his identity as the Joint Commissioner of Police (CP) because officers were not wearing the Crime Branch uniforms or T-shirts during the operation.
“I want to make it clear that neither I nor my team was wearing Crime Branch T-shirts. He did not know that I was the Joint CP Crime. I was only asking him routine questions about where he had brought the weapons from,” he said.
He urged the media not to portray the incident as an attack specifically targeting a senior police officer.
“The message should not go through the media that criminals have become so fearless that they attacked such a senior officer. He (accused) was intoxicated. A person under intoxication is not in his senses. He does not know who is standing in front of him,” Singhal said.
The Joint CP also acknowledged that questioning the accused at the recovery site was a mistake and said operational procedures would be reviewed.
“I want to tell all my subordinates that interrogation should not be conducted at the spot. It is better to bring the accused to the Crime Branch and interrogate him there. Questioning should take place in an open area where the accused is not in a position to attack,” he said.
Police said that only the Joint CP, Police Inspector Ghasura and the accused were inside the small hut during questioning because the accused had already been searched following the recovery of the weapons.
According to investigators, Kalim allegedly obtained the firearms from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.
Singhal said investigators would examine who supplied the weapons and for what purpose.
“He (accused) had procured the weapons from the Lala gang in Ratlam of Madhya Pradesh. We are checking who was supplying them here and for what purpose. That will emerge during interrogation,” he added.
Police said the two criminal cases have been registered against the accused: one under the Arms Act in connection with the seizure of the four firearms and another including an allegation of attempted murder following the attack on the police officer.
Kalim, a labourer from Shah Alam in Ahmedabad, has an extensive criminal record.
Police said the accused has been booked in 35 previous criminal cases involving offences, including attempted murder, assault, robbery, theft, possession of prohibited weapons, gambling and violations of the Gujarat Police Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A Preventive Detention order under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) was issued against the accused in 2018, and five preventive actions have also been taken against him in the past.
Police said further questioning would focus on the source of the weapons, whether others were involved in their procurement and intended distribution, and the purpose for which they were allegedly acquired.
(IANS)
