Gang opens fire with AK-47 at Rajasthan police station, frees accomplice

Over 10 men on Friday barged into a police station in Rajasthan's Alwar district, opened fire with an AK-47 rifle and freed an accomplice wanted in five murder cases, officials said.

Around 45 rounds were fired at the Behror police station by the group of 10-15 men but nobody was injured, the officials said, adding that they sped away in at least two vehicles.

Vikram Gujjar (28), better known as Papla, was detained for questioning at the police station after cops intercepted his SUV during patrolling early morning. An amount of about Rs 33 lakh was seized and he was taken into custody for further interrogation, Inspector General of Police (Jaipur Range) S Sengathir told PTI.

There were several others along with him but they managed to flee the spot when policemen were busy searching the vehicle, a Scorpio, Behror Station House Officer Sugan Singh told PTI.

He was taken to the police station and was being questioned, when the men barged into the premises and opened fire. They then managed to flee with Papla in at least two vehicles, including an I20 car, he said.

The gang members were carrying other weapons as well and police said they were investigating whether those were used.

While speeding away they dashed the I20 car into a wall, which was later found abandoned along with a Dzire car.

Papla, who is from Mahendragarh in neighbouring Haryana, is wanted in five murder cases and there was a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on him, Singh said.

CCTV footage is being examined to nab the accused and the entire area has been cordoned off, police said.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state's police chief is working in coordination with his Haryana counterpart to trace the accused.

Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, who is also the state's former home minister, said that it can be understood that criminals will come up with all preparedness to commit crime but it is difficult to understand how the police failed to fire a single bullet.

He said that not retaliating to the attack shows weakness on the part of the state police force.

Nearly two years ago, Papla's gang members managed to free him after opening fire, in a similar manner, at a court premises. A hunt was on for him since then, police said.

Papla has a strong social media presence with photos of him brandishing weapons in several Facebook profiles and pages.