Truck driver runs over police inspector in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas, arrested after brief encounter

Police on Tuesday arrested a truck driver who had allegedly run over and killed the Khategaon police station in-charge in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas.

The accused, identified as Gajendra alias Akku Rawat, had allegedly run over inspector Dilip Puri during a search for illicit liquor on the Indore-Betul highway on Sunday. The accused was arrested from Alirajpur after being on the run since the incident.

A reward of ₹10,000 had been announced for his arrest. When the police were bringing him back to Dewas, the accused tried to escape, but the cops arrested him after a brief encounter.

“The encounter took place within the jurisdiction of Barotha police station near Dewas when the arrested accused attempted to escape from police custody. He was shot in the leg. He was admitted to a hospital,” Dewas superintendent of police Aditya Mishra said.

The case

Gajendra, a resident of Alirajpur, was the driver of the Eicher truck (MP-43-H-4786) which was allegedly being used to smuggle illicit liquor. A team led by Inspector Dilip Puri spotted an Eicher vehicle parked in front of Narmada Dhaba at Sandalpur Phata on the Indore-Betul highway on Sunday night.

When the officer asked the driver to step out for a search, he allegedly rammed the vehicle into him deliberately in an attempt to kill him and fled from the spot with the illicit liquor. The rear wheel of the truck ran over the inspector, leaving him critically injured. He later succumbed to his injuries during treatment. Another police officer was also injured after the driver allegedly attempted to run him over.

The truck was later intercepted, and police recovered more than 1,800 litres of illicit liquor hidden in specially created secret compartments.

Police have already arrested three persons, including the kingpin, Rahul Jaiswal of Timarni; his accomplice, Vijay Rao; and Keram Singh Changod of Alirajpur, who had provided the vehicle to Gajendra. Rahul Jaiswal allegedly coordinated the supply of illicit liquor from three liquor shops in Harda to Gujarat.

A case has been registered at Khategaon Police Station under Sections 103(1), 109(1), 121(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 34(2) of the Excise Act.