Policeman killed after fire breaks out in house

Meerut: A 36-year-old head constable died after a fire broke out in his house in Sharma Nagar here early Wednesday, police said.

The deceased, Vibhor Kumar, a 2011-batch recruit posted at the Meerut Police Lines and a resident of Shamli, was living alone.

Police suspect the blaze may have been triggered by a cigarette ember, or possibly by a mosquito-repellent incense stick.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Vipin Tada said the house owner noticed smoke emanating from Kumar’s room around 3:30 am.

When he raised an alarm, neighbours gathered, and the landlord broke open the door. Kumar was found dead with burn injuries.

Police and fire officials reached the spot immediately, and the body was sent for postmortem.

In another icident, Punjab Police said it has arrested a man, who was part of an extortion gang in Kapurthala district, and recovered four pistols from his possession.

Amandeep, who was a member of the Jagga Fukiwal extortion gang which was active around Sultanpur Lodhi, was instrumental in supplying weapons to local gangs to carry out firing and extortion activities, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

Police said it recovered four pistols from Amandeep.

Amandeep, who is a resident of Kapurthala, allegedly supplied two pistols to his associate Lovepreet, who has also been arrested.

From Lovepreet’s possession, police recovered one .32 bore country-made pistol, one .315 bore country-made pistol, and two live rounds.

Further interrogation led to the recovery of three more country-made pistols, police said. A case has been registered at Sadar police station in Kapurthala.

Further investigation is underway to trace backward and forward linkages and dismantle the entire illegal arms network, he said.