Kishanganj police station SHO Ashwini Kumar was an astute man who stood by his principles and worked day and night to rid his jurisdictional area of the liquor mafia. On Saturday, the 10th of April, the Bihar cop was leading a raid team in a neighbouring area under Panjipoda police station of West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district.
Ashwini Kumar was leading the charge in order to nab the accused of a bike theft case, and the gang leader of the said racket. However, during the raid, a mob surrounded the raiding team and attacked it. While Kumar’s colleagues fled the spot, the SHO was lynched to death by the bloodthirsty mob.
According to the Times of India, the mob was instigated by one Mohammad Israel, who used the public address system of a mosque at Pantapara to instigate people, which then proceeded to attack the police team. Earlier, three accused— Firoze Alam, Abuzar Alam and Sahinur Khan— had been arrested in connection with the death of the Bihar cop. Subsequently, three more arrests were made in the case, two of which were identified as Malik alias Abdul Malik and Mohammad Israel. Firoz Alam remains the prime accused, at whose house Ashwini Kumar was attacked. He has been arrested along with his mother and one other person.
Within hours of the dreadful news being broken to the family of SHO Ashwini Kumar, his 70-year-old mother, Urmila Devi passed away of shock. The mother was already suffering from heart ailments, and the news of her son’s death only aggravated her condition. Kishanganj SP Kumar Ashish said that on Sunday, Kumar’s mother collapsed on seeing the body of her son at their Jankinagar home in Purnea district, and died soon after. The inspector and his mother were cremated on Sunday at their ancestral village.
Meanwhile, the Kishanganj Police has suspended seven policemen for dereliction of duty for leaving Kumar behind at Pantarpara and fleeing when they were attacked.“We suspended them for leaving the spot while Ashwini Kumar stayed back to save the lives of the two informers,” SP Kumar Ashish said.
This is a conspiracy & I demand CBI probe. They left my father alone despite having guns. Not only circle inspector Manish Kumar, but all those who ran away should be punished. My grandmother also died of shock after my father’s death: Daughter of slain SHO Ashwini Kumar (11.04) pic.twitter.com/JhNcoCpNuG
— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2021
As reported by ANI, the daughter of the slain Bihar cop has alleged that a conspiracy was at play behind the death of her father, and demanded a CBI probe into the entire incident. She raised apprehensions on the role of the other officers who accompanied SHO Ashwini Kumar during the operation, while also questioning how they all returned unharmed while only her father was killed.