A five-member all-women team at the Lohiya Nagar outpost in Ghaziabad was carrying out a routine vehicle check near Meerut Road when they suddenly spotted a scooter approaching the barricade. Upon signalling the rider to stop, he allegedly tried to flee, prompting the officers to give chase. Soon, the scooter lost balance and the man fell. When a police inspector approached him, he pulled out a pistol and allegedly opened fire, to which the officers retaliated. Within moments, the man fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his leg.
It was around midnight on Sunday when the entire operation was carried out solely by women officers— the first of its kind in Uttar Pradesh.
Ghaziabad police arrested the 22-year-old, a resident of Pune Wali Gali in Vijaynagar, who was allegedly carrying stolen goods and an illegal weapon. The accused, identified as Jitender, has 18 cases of robbery, theft, and snatching registered against him. The police also recovered a scooter stolen from Delhi, a Samsung tablet, a Samsung phone, and a country-made pistol of .315 bore with cartridges from him.
During investigation and interrogation, Jitender admitted that he used to steal motorcycles and scooters, snatch phones and cash from passersby, and sell them at cheaper rates.
“He claimed the tablet and the phone recovered were stolen last night near Crossing Republic, while the scooter was stolen last year from Delhi,” a concerned official told the national media.
In a purported video, Jitender was seen limping heavily as he was shot in the leg. While two officers held him up, he was heard pleading: “Ma’am, phir nahin karunga aisa… Sorry Ma’am.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police Upasana Pandey identified the officers involved in the operation as Mahila Thana SHO Ritu Tyagi, Inspector Vinita Yadav, Inspector Bhubaneswar Singh, Head Constable Mamta Kumari, and Constable Neetu Singh. Tyagi was one of the four women SHOs appointed in Ghaziabad last year to counter the argument of a male-dominated police force. Ghaziabad has 25 police stations, with only the Mahila Thana headed by a woman.