His information led to the encounter of a wanted criminal, Faheem alias Pakistani, in Uttar Pradesh. He led the police to a drug peddler, resulting in the recovery of 60 kg ganja. He also led the police to several vehicle thieves.

On Tuesday, Pramod Tomar (35) was helping the South Delhi police bust yet another gang of car thieves, when criminals shot him in Noida.

Officers of the Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of the South Delhi police, who were leading the operation, describe Tomar as “overzealous”. On Tuesday, that trait proved fatal.

A senior police officer said: “We had gone to Noida on Tuesday to arrest members of the Dharmender and Rahul gang of vehicle thieves. Tomar told us they would arrive in a stolen white Honda City car. After Tomar engaged them in conversation posing as a buyer, we started closing in on them. Tomar saw us approaching. A few criminals, who were crossing the road, also caught his attention. To ensure that the raid did not fail, he jumped on Dharmender. Dharmender pushed him on the road and another criminal, Rahul, shot him in the chest.”

The incident took place opposite Sai Temple in Sector 60 Noida in the afternoon.

The gang members arrived in three different cars (a Scorpio, a Qualis and a Honda City).

“We had specifically instructed him not take any action on his own. The plan was to arrest Tomar along with members of the gang. But in his zeal to help us, he jumped on the leader and was shot,” an officer said.

... contd.