In a daring attack on a police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district, about 159 km from here, six armed miscreants tried to free a dreaded criminal lodged there after killing a home guard.
Though the miscreants failed to gain entry into the cell of the police station, where the history sheeter was lodged, they shot dead a home guard who tried to resist their bid, according to police sources here on Thursday.
Sources said the station in-charge escaped unhurt. Police said that six miscreants armed with guns and pistols launched an attack on Manikpur police station late on Wednesday evening.
“The miscreants were accomplices of a dreaded criminal lodged in the police station and they wanted to free him,” said a senior police official.
The miscreants challenged the station in-charge, who had locked himself in a room. They also reportedly opened fire to scare the cops in the police station.
The in-charge did not come out of the room, said sources, adding that the miscreants sprayed bullets at a home guard identified as Mahadev Prasad Mishra. Mishra had tried to resist them.
Home guard killedThe home guard died on the spot. The sound of gun fire alerted residents in the area. Police said a case had been registered against six people and a massive manhunt launched to nab them.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and ordered senior officials to trace the culprits. Opposition parties said the attack on a police station proved that the law and order machinery had collapsed in the state.