Criminal Murders Cop Inside Ahmedabad Crime Branch Headquarters, Flees

Ahmedabad: A suspected drug peddler has beaten a constable to death inside the Crime Branch headquarters - the heart of the police establishment in Ahmedabad - raising a multitude of questions over its functioning.

Constable Chandrakant Makwana, 40, was hit on the head repeatedly with an iron rod. His body was found lying in a pool of blood in a 10x12 feet room on the ground floor of the "Anti Organized Crime Cell" this morning.

The suspected drug peddler, Manish Swarn Kumar, a resident of Rajasthan, was brought in for questioning a little after midnight. Mr Makwana was seen taking him to the Anti Organised Crime cell.

"At 7 am, when the officer on duty came in, he saw Chandrakant lying in a pool of blood. An iron rod was also lying there. The suspect had fled," said C N Rajput, a senior officer of the Crime Branch. "It is suspected that he managed to escape by the back gate."
 The Crime branch headquarters - a sprawling campus with separate low rise buildings located in Old City -- has a three-tier security comprising state reserve police, the local police and a Crime Branch staff.

A number of staff members, too, were present in that particular building at the time, but no one heard any commotion, the police said. Nothing was recorded in the CCTV cameras in the building either, since most of them were not working.

"Only one camera, located outside the building was functional. The footage from it is being examined," said Mr Rajput.

The distraught family members of Mr Makwana, who had been with the Crime Branch for last four years, have demanded an investigation.

"What kind of a security is this? A criminal kills a police officer and simply walks away... if you can't provide security to your own men, what assurance can you give to the people?'' said his widow, Yamini. The accused was arrested on Thursday evening after a massive manhunt.