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Updated: Sep 09, 2019 08:44 IST

Police in Rajasthan’s Alwar district filed an FIR more than 15 hours after a gang attacked a police station in Behror and freed one of Haryana’s most wanted criminals from its lock-up.

The delay in filing the First Information Report came despite the dressing down Behror Police received from a court for lodging a late complaint in the Pehlu Khan case.

At least 10 to 15 men armed with AK-47s rifles had attacked the police station in Behror on Friday morning and walked away with Vikram alias Papla Gurjar of Mahendragrah in Haryana, who carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh.

HT has accessed a copy of the FIR in which the time of Friday’s attack has been mentioned as 9am and it says that FIR was filed at 12.45am on Saturday.

The FIR by station house officer (SHO) Sugan Singh also exposes Behror Police’s lack of alertness. Vinod Swami, a man with a criminal record, was at the police station for 20-25 minutes before the gang stormed it. Swami and another man were arrested on Saturday on charges of helping the gang free Gurjar.

“Head constable Ramavtar told me that before Papla was freed, Swami, the sarpanch of Jakhrana village, came to the police station and enquired about Vikram alias Papla Gurjar for 20-25 minutes. Ten minutes after he left, 10-15 men raided the police station and opened fire,” Singh said in the FIR.

Independent MLA from Behror, Baljeet Singh Yadav, alleged on Sunday that Swami visited the police station to broker a deal with the police on behalf of Gurjar’s gang to secure his release.

The FIR has also exposed a lie. Police initially said they didn’t realise the man in their lock-up was Papla Gurjar. However, in the FIR, the SHO said the accused identified himself as Sahil but later he gave his real name.

“There are some loopholes and IG Jaipur Range is conducting an inquiry into those,” said Rajasthan’s director general of police (DGP) Bhupendra Singh.

Meanwhile, top officers of Special Operations Group and Anti-Terror Squad of Rajasthan police are camping in Behror to track down Gurjar and his gang. ATS emergency response teams (ERTs) with bulletproof jackets and helmets are combing possible escape route.

Raids are being conducted in western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, said SOG chief Anil Paliwal.