Bijnor Police Swap Dumpers Involved in Fatal Accident, Two Officers Suspended

Bijnor: In a shocking turn of events, Bijnor police came under fire for allegedly attempting to cover up the role of a dumper in a tragic accident that claimed four lives. On Sunday night, a runaway Hyundai Creta collided with a dumper carrying illegally mined soil on the highway, killing all four occupants, including a revered religious scholar. The car was severely damaged, and police had to use a JCB to extricate the vehicle and retrieve the bodies.

According to reports, the police allegedly replaced the actual dumper involved in the accident with an old scrap dumper at the police station, while the original dumper was hidden at a brick kiln. The video of this alleged cover-up went viral on social media, prompting Bijnor SP Abhishek Jha to suspend Nangal Soti SHO Satendra Malik and constable Amit Saini.

The deceased have been identified as Kari Iqbal (75), Ashfaq (65), Ehtesham (25), and Salauddin (26), all residents of Sarai Alam. Following the accident, the police removed both the car and the dumper from the site. Constable Saini, under orders from the station officer, was responsible for bringing the dumper to the station. Meanwhile, the dumper owner allegedly coordinated with the police to replace the vehicle involved in the crash.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the dumper carrying soil was uninsured and lacked proper documentation. The district magistrate had already imposed a night-time ban on mining activities. However, illegal mining continued in the Nangal area, and soil-laden dumpers were being transported in violation of regulations. The police allegedly attempted to hide the evidence of the dumper involved in the accident from higher officials.

Following the scandal, SP Jha assigned City SP Dr. Krishna Gopal Singh and CO Najibabad Nitish Kumar to investigate. Their findings confirmed that the dumper displayed at the station did not bear any signs of the accident and had a different registration number from the one involved.

District Magistrate’s Statement:
District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur emphasized that no mining or operation of overloaded vehicles is permitted at night in the district. She stated that strict instructions have been given to SDMs, COs, and ARTO to ensure compliance, and monitoring teams comprising traffic, police, and GST officials have been deployed, especially during foggy winter nights.