RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, July 17: Cattle smuggler Mahmood Qureshi, who allegedly mowed down 2018 batch woman sub inspector Sandhya Topno on July 20 last year, surrendered before the trial court today.
After Qureshi surrendered, the trial court sent him to Birsa Munda Central Jail in 14-day judicial custody.
The surrender could be possible after the police mounted pressure on him. On April 1, the police pasted a public notice at Qureshi’s house threatening him to attach his property in case of this non-appearance before the court. Apart from this, the police also started conducting raids at Qureshi’s several possible locations to arrest him.
On July 20, 2022, Qureshi ran his vehicle over Topno after she asked him to stop at Hulhundu under Tupudana police station area. Topno was on duty when the incident took place. She was asked to stop the vehicle after someone informed the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station regarding use of the vehicles in smuggling of bovine animals.
Topno and her staff were on the road, anticipating the motion of approaching vehicles. She raised her hand to signal the driver to stop the car as soon as she saw it, but he refused. Before she could defend herself, the driver sped away after running over her body with the car. She was struck by the car and laid lifeless on the ground.
When the police officers realised this, they began a furious pursuit of the car. The driver felt anxious and lost his balance after realising that his car was being pursued. A half-kilometre from the location, a vehicle flipped on its side. One passenger who was sitting next to the driver fled the car as it tipped over while police apprehended the driver.
