Deepak Sharma , a Sub Inspector of Jammu Kashmir Police , who was injured in a shootout with gangsters , breathed his last in a hospital today morning. He and a Special Police Officer (SPO) Anil Kumar were injured in the shootout at Government Medical College in Kathua late Tuesday night. A gangster identified as Vasudev alias Shunnu of Ramgarh was killed in the shootout.
The incident sparked panic in Kathua town, which is headed for polling in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir on April 19, as people suspected it was a terrorist attack.
Deepak Sharma was a probationary Sub Inspector Deepak Sharma posted at Ramgarh Police Station in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a resident of Sangoor , a place near Udhampur railway station.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha has expressed deep condolences with the family of the deceased.
In a post on X, the LG said: “I salute the valour & indomitable courage of PSI Deepak Sharma, who made supreme sacrifice while valiantly fighting & neutralising a most wanted gangster in Kathua. His supreme sacrifice will remain etched in our hearts. Deepest condolences to the family of martyr Deepak Sharma.”
The deceased gangster Vasudev alias Shunnu was also a resident of Ramgarh. He had more than half a dozen criminal cases registered against him at Ramgarh police station. He had also been detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) in the past, the police said.
According to police Shunnu was also linked to a gang which is headed by one Jatinder Singh alias Shallu of Gurah Slathia village in Samba district. Shallu was on the run as he was wanted by the police in connection with the recent killing of a rival gangster Mohan Cheer during a shootout in Mohali, Punjab.
Ramgarh police had been looking for the gangsters since 2023 in connection with the murder of another Ramgarh gangster, Akshay Kumar. Akshay had stepped out of jail after serving a term under the PSA and was murdered on November 25 last year.
Last month, the police caught two members of the Shallu gang from a hotel in Amritsar, after a shootout. An SPO was also injured in that shootout.
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SI Deepak Sharma was investigating the Kumar murder case and he got a tip-off that some members of the Shallu gang were meeting near Government Medical College in Kathua. A police team allegedly lay in wait as members of the Shallu gang arrived. When the gangsters reached the location in a vehicle around 10.30 pm, they saw the policemen in plain clothes and allegedly opened fire. During the exchange of fire, to take cover , the gangsters entered the premises of the Emergency block which was abandoned.
SI Deepak Sharma shot Shunnu dead but he and an SPO were injured during the exchange of fire, sources said. Deepak was rushed to a hospital in Punjab but he succumbed to his injuries today morning. The other gang members accompanying Shunnu escaped. Police teams from Kathua and Samba districts cordoned off the area and plugged all routes to Punjab to prevent the criminals from leaving Jammu and Kashmir.
To pay homage to the braveheart martyr PSI Deepak Sharma, a wreath laying ceremony was held at District Police Lines in Samba. DGP R. R. Swain led officers, Jawans and relatives of the martyr in offering heartfelt tributes to the martyr. ADsGP Vijay Kumar, Anand Jain, DIG Sunil Gupta and other jurisdictional officers laid floral wreaths.
