Nagpur: A police sub-inspector (SI) was crushed to death allegedly by liquor smugglers while he was on duty in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district on Tuesday morning, police said.

Chhatrapati Chide, attached as SI to the Nagbhid police station in the neighbouring Chandrapur, and four other police personnel were conducting a routine check on vehicles against illegal transportation of liquor on the Gosikhurd canal road near Maushi-Chorgao village around 8 am.

On spotting a sport utility vehicle (SUV) heading towards Brahmapuri town, located about 110 km from here, the policemen tried to stop it, an official at Nagbhid police station said.

While the police personnel were approaching the SUV, its driver took a reverse turn and allegedly crushed Chide under the vehicle’s rear wheels before speeding away, he said.

Chide was rushed to a hospital in Bramhapuri where he succumbed to his injuries, the official said.

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Chandrapur’s Superintendent of Police Maheshwar Reddy said, “Our team was on a regular anti-liquor drive in the morning hours when the incident occurred.”

A search was on for the SUV and its driver, he added.

The Gosikhurd canal road was being used by the liquor mafia for illegal transportation of liquor to Chandrapur district where its sale and manufacture is banned, another police official said.

Apart from Chandrapur, Wardha, a place associated with Mahatma Gandhi, and Gadchiroli have also been declared ‘dry’ districts by the state government.

(PTI)