MP: 3 cops killed in firing by poachers

Bhopal: Three policemen were killed after poachers opened fire at them at a village in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh in the wee hours of Saturday, state Home minister Narottam Mishra said.

The incident occurred on Shahrok Road near Saga Barkheda village under the jurisdiction of Aron police station, some 160 km from the state capital, around 3 am when the police personnel had gone to nab the miscreants following a tip-off, he said.

Police sources said the body of a person with a bullet injury, suspected to be involved in the incident and believed to have been killed in the retaliatory firing by the police, was also recovered from nearby Bidoria village.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a high-level meeting over the incident, following which he announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore as well as government jobs to the kin of each of the martyred policemen. He also transferred the Inspector General (IG) of Gwalior zone, Anil Sharma, for his "delay" in reaching the incident site.

Police Sub-Inspector Rajkumar Jatav and two constables — Nilesh Bhargava and Santaram Meena — were killed in the firing, he said.