By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 13 Aug: Dehradun police have arrested western Uttar Pradesh’s wanted gangster Raees, son of Naseem, following a midnight encounter in the Premnagar tea estate area during an intensive checking drive ahead of Independence Day. The incident happened after midnight late last night. Raees is a wanted cow smuggler and gangster from Saharanpur.
The police informed today that during checking near ‘Daru Chowk’ on the night of 12 and 13 August, two men on a black motorcycle without a number plate were signalled by the policemen on patrol to stop. However, instead of stopping as asked, the gangsters, instead, sped towards the tea estate. Alerted police teams pursued them after informing nearby stations through the control room. The suspects abandoned the motorcycle near Pitambarpur–Baniyawala road and fled into the tea garden and also allegedly opened fire on the chasing police party. The police vehicle was damaged in the firing. In retaliatory fire, Raees was shot in both legs and arrested and then taken to hospital, while his associate Nawab managed to escape under cover of darkness.
Police recovered a .315 bore country‑made pistol, two empty cartridges, a chopper, an axe, two knives, a nylon rope and the abandoned Splendour motorcycle from the spot. According to Premnagar police, Raees, aged 26, originally from Khata Khedi in Saharanpur was presently residing in Azad Colony, Alawalpur Road, Chhutmalpur. He had allegedly been absconding for nearly two years in connection with a cow slaughter case registered against him in 2024 at Premnagar in Dehradun. In that case, four of his associates had already been arrested and sent to jail. Raees admitted during questioning that he had long been involved in cow slaughter incidents and had returned to Dehradun with Nawab to reconnoitre stray cattle in the Tea Estate area for another attempt to catch stray cattle and slaughter them. To avoid detection, they had removed the motorcycle’s number plate.
SSP Pramendra Dobal shared with the media that Raees was wanted in multiple serious cases in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, including cases of cow slaughter, theft, gangster activities and offences under the Arms Act. Nearly one and a half dozen cases are registered against him in Saharanpur, Haridwar and Dehradun, ranging from cattle slaughter prevention laws to gangster charges and attempted murder. His criminal record includes cases under the Uttar Pradesh Cow Slaughter Prevention Act, Gangster Act, Arms Act and Indian Penal Code sections relating to theft, receiving stolen property and attempt to murder.
In connection with the latest incident, a case has been registered at Premnagar police station under sections of the Arms Act and the BNS for the armed attack on police. The search for Nawab, also a resident of Saharanpur, is continuing with combing operations in adjoining areas. Police officials confirmed that the ongoing intensive checking drive, ordered by the SSP in view of Independence Day, covers inter‑district and inter‑state checkpoints as well as internal routes to intercept suspicious persons and vehicles.
The police team involved in the operation included Inspector Naresh Singh Rathore, Sub‑Inspectors Jitendra Kumar and Jainendra Rana, Constables Ravi Shankar, Pankaj Kumar and Shrikant Malik. The police have claimed that the arrest of Raees, a notorious gangster with a long criminal history, marks a significant success for them in their campaign against organised crime and cattle slaughter in the region.
