Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Jun 18 (PTI) Three people with suspected Pakistan-terror links were arrested for allegedly hurling “petrol bombs” at the RSS office in Ranchi, and one of them suffered bullet injuries in a gunfight while trying to escape from police custody on Thursday afternoon, an officer said.
The two accused were apprehended from Lohardaga district late on Wednesday, and a car used by them was seized, while one more accused was held on June 18, the officer said.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Wednesday alleged that petrol bombs were hurled at its office in the Nivaranpur area here in the early hours of Wednesday, prompting the police to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.
“Three accused have been arrested so far. One of the accused escaped from police custody during interrogation at Ranchi’s Kotwali police station. The accused was arrested later from Ranchi’s Chanho area after a brief gunfight with security forces. He received bullet injuries in one of his legs, and he was admitted to a hospital in the city,” Ranchi City DSP K V Raman told PTI.
The injured accused was identified as Saif Ansari alias Rohit, he said.
Providing details about how Saif escaped and captured again, Ranchi SP Paras Rana said. “While being interrogated at the Kotwali police station, he made an excuse to go to the washroom and then ran away after breaking a window. We checked the CCTV footage and found that he had boarded a bus. We then alerted several police stations and circulated his photograph. After a chase, the police caught him near a toll plaza,” When police teams were bringing him back, the accused snatched a police weapon and fired 2 to 3 rounds, he said.
“In response, the police also fired at him, resulting in a gunshot wound to one of his legs. The brief encounter happened in Chano area” the SP said.
Raman said that the interrogation of the accused is underway. “The accused are suspected to have terror links with ISI or TTH. The details will be shared after the investigation is over,” he said.
During the investigation, the police had recovered shards of glass bottles from the spot.
A forensic team visited the spot to ascertain the contents of the bottles, according to the police. The bomb detection and disposal squad also visited the RSS office.
The contents of the bottles are suspected to be petrol, another officer said, adding: “No explosive item such as an IED was found”.
Senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das condemned the petrol bomb attack on the RSS office in Ranchi, describing the incident as an outcome of the JMM-led government’s “vote bank and appeasement policy”.
Das visited the RSS office on Wednesday and raised questions over the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
The BJP leader said he had spoken to Jharkhand DGP Tadasha Mishra on the matter.
“It was an attack on nationalism. It was an outcome of the freedom allowed to ‘jehadis’ for the sake of vote bank and appeasement policy,” Das alleged. PTI SAN/RPS BS BDC SAN NN
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