UP's 'thain-thain' cop shot at, injured

The Uttar Pradesh cop, who had made the sound of gunfire when his pistol got jammed during an encounter, was shot at and wounded in another encounter in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.

The constable, who became famous as a the 'thain-thain' (emitting sound of gunfire) cop, was admitted to the district hospital at Sambhal, where his condition was stated to be out of danger.

According to police sources here, the cop, Manoj Kumar, was fired upon by two motorbike-borne persons near Asmauli area in the district on Friday night, when he signalled them to stop.

This time, however, Manoj Kumar's pistol did not get jammed and he did not emit the sound of gunfire.

Kumar, who was later recommended for an award by the district authorities, had hit the limelight after a video showing him shouting 'thain-thain' in a dense forest, went viral on the social networking sites recently.

In October last year, the police had cornered an alleged dreaded criminal in a dense forest in the district. While chasing the criminal, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head, one of the cops tried to fire at him but his pistol got jammed.

Apparently panicked as the criminal had a pistol in his hand, the cop started mimicking the sound of gunfire. The cop was heard shouting 'thain-thain' in the video.

Police officials initially sought to justify making the sound of gunfire by the cop saying that it was done to create "psychological pressure" on the criminal, but later said that the sound was "accidentally" made by the cop.