BJP seeks CBI probe into mowing down of Jharkhand policewoman by cattle smugglers

A speeding vehicle carrying the cattle runs over 32-year-old police SI Sandhya Topno.

In a rerun of the killing of a police officer in Haryana during a drive against illegal mining, a woman police officer engaged in vehicle checking near the Jharkhand capital was mowed down on Wednesday by a pickup van allegedly smuggling cattle.

Sandhya Topno, a 32-year-old police sub-inspector, was conducting the checking drive at Tupudana on the outskirts of Ranchi, when the speeding vehicle carrying the cattle ran over her and fled, a police official said.

"She was immediately taken to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences but she succumbed to her injuries on way to the hospital," Tupudana police station in charge Kanhaiya Singh said.

Mr. Singh said the vehicle driver has been apprehended and the vehicle seized along with the cattle.

Ranchi city superintendent of police Anshuman Kumar said that prima facie the matter seems to be a case of cattle smuggling.

"One person has been detained and the police are in search of others. Investigations are on," he said. An eyewitness said that the SI had raised her hand from a distance to stop the pickup van but the driver ran her over.

The incident occurred a day after a deputy superintendent of police probing illegal mining was killed in Haryana’s Nuh district when a truck he had signalled to stop drove into him.