In a rather quirky move, police in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district have announced a bounty of… wait for it… Rs 5 for the capture of three absconding criminals involved in a recent shootout. That’s right, the price of half a cup of chai!
The symbolic reward, a far cry from the usual hefty sums, is meant to highlight what officials are calling “the diminished status” of these once-feared offenders. The message? “They’re worth about as much as a samosa,” quipped one resident.
The trio—Jasveer Singh of Rudrapur, Manmohan Singh of Dineshpur, and Sahab Singh from UP’s Rampur—have been on the run following a dramatic shootout on October 12, in Jafarpur village, which saw 40 rounds fired and left eight people injured. Despite their notorious reputations, the police clearly aren’t losing sleep over them.
SSP Manikant Mishra remarked, “The reward reflects their real standing. They think they’re big shots, but their worth is Rs 5. We’ll plaster their faces all over town for good measure.”
Locals are loving the humor. Mukesh Sharma, a shopkeeper in Dineshpur, laughed, “This is brilliant! It’s like the cops are saying, ‘These guys aren’t even worth your pocket change.’”
Sanjay Juneja, president of the Rudrapur City Traders’ Union, added, “It’s a great move. By treating them as small-time crooks, the police have knocked down their intimidation factor.”
And as for the absconding criminals? Let’s just say, their street cred might not recover anytime soon.
