Uttarakhand: Three held over shopkeeper’s murder inside Rudrapur district hospital

Udham Singh Nagar police arrested three people, including the main suspect following a brief gunfight, in connection with the murder of a shopkeeper who was allegedly stabbed to death during a clash inside Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur district hospital premises, officials said on Saturday.

Two suspects, Akash Kumar and Vinod Kumar, were arrested on Friday, while the prime suspect, identified as Vikas Kumar, was arrested following an encounter with a police team in the Pulbhatta police station area, officers said.

According to the police, the incident stemmed from a dispute between the operators of Prajapati Telecom and Raj Telecom in the Jagatpura area of Transit Camp. The business rivalry escalated into a clash on Friday morning, leaving people from both sides injured. Shortly after the injured reached the district hospital for treatment, the rival groups allegedly attacked each other inside the hospital premises.

“During the clash inside, the victim, identified as Nitesh alias Raj Johri (30), sustained severe chest injuries from a sharp-edged weapon. He succumbed to his injuries shortly after,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Ganpati.

“On a complaint by the victim’s relative, Dinesh Johri, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Pantnagar police station under Sections 103(1), 115(2), 118(1), 190, 191(1), and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),” he said.

Ganpati said multiple teams comprising personnel from Pulbhatta, Dineshpur and the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Rudrapur were constituted to trace those involved.

“We constituted multiple teams comprising personnel from Pulbhatta, Dineshpur, and SOG Rudrapur to trace the culprits. A forensic unit and a Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) team inspected the scene, gathered physical evidence, and scanned CCTV footage from nearby cameras,” Ganpati said.

“We are conducting raids to arrest the remaining accused involved in the incident,” he said.