PRAYAGRAJ: While the image of chief minister Yogi Adityanath as "Bulldozer Baba" one one of the key factors that helped BJP retain power in the state, the terror of bulldozers razing their ill-gotten properties is haunting the criminals in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh and Fatehpur, the four districts of Prayagraj range.
The men-in-khaki in Prayagraj range are taking the advantage of bulldozers to tighten the noose around law-breakers and absconders and also to instill a sense of fear among them.
While the Pratapgarh police managed to catch the prime offender, wanted in connection with a woman’s rape inside the circulating area of Pratapgarh railway station, after parking a bulldozer in front of the house of the accused, the Fatehpur police have razed the boundary wall of a godown owned by a criminal, to recover a stolen trailer which was looted along with iron materials worth Rs 35 lakh.
The godown was constructed by criminals for hiding looted and stolen heavy vehicles and police had to raze it to recover the looted truck and iron rods, police said.
Though the senior cops are tight-lipped over the use of bulldozers in tightening the noose around criminals, insiders claim that criminals are ready to surrender to protect their properties before they are bulldozed.
The series started with Fatehpur incident when a group of four to five unidentified miscreants looted iron rods worth Rs 35 lakhs being carried in a trailer truck from the driver Ramdarash Chauhan after offering him edibles laced with poisonous substance under the limits of Kotwali police station of Fatehpur district last week.
Following the incident, one Chandra Prakash , a resident of Bhiwani (Haryana) had lodged an FIR with the police station concerned and police later arrested one of the accused, identified as Nihal, a resident of Bihar, regarding the incident. The arrested criminal spilled the beans about the whereabouts of the looted trailer truck and cops found it parked inside the godown.
As the godown was locked, police with the help of a bulldozer, razed its boundary wall and recovered the looted truck and iron rods. Police said that they have been looking for four criminals, including one Om Prakash, who had allegedly constructed the godown to hide stolen/looted trucks.
Similarly, the Pratapgarh police also took assistance of a bulldozer to ensure the arrest of a man who had allegedly raped a woman inside the toilet located in the circulating area of Pratapgarh railway station last week. As per the FIR, woman was allegedly raped by the caretaker of the public toilet last Saturday morning and despite repeated efforts, cops were not able to trace his whereabouts in Pratapgarh, Prayagraj and Amethi district.
Later, cops struck an idea and parked a bulldozer in front of the accused’s house on Sunday night with the threat that his house would be bulldozed if he didn’t show up to the police till Monday morning. Within no time cops received clues about his whereabouts near Bhagwa Chungi area and nabbed him.
A senior cop preferring anonymity said, “We have undoubtedly used bulldozers to ensure the arrest of criminals or recover stolen goods. The terror of bulldozer is haunting criminals who are dead to see their properties razed.”
