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Sheela Bhatt in Bombay
One policeman from Bombay was killed and three others injured when an angry mob of 500 people attacked them in Mekda, a village near Amreli in Gujarat, on Wednesday.
The sarpanch (headman) of the village was also killed when Sub-Inspector Nandakumar Dedhe opened fire with his service revolver in a bid to disperse the mob.
The police team was pursuing a year-old case of diamond thefts registered at the Dindoshi police station in Malad, a northwestern suburb of Bombay.
The Dindoshi police had arrested J S Khuman in connection with the case. Khuman apparently told them that the stolen diamonds had been kept in his village Mekda.
But when the policemen reached the village on Wednesday morning, they found the mob barring their way. In an attempt to disperse the mob, Sub-Inspector Dedhe opened fire with his revolver, killing Sarpanch Digu Nanji.
The villagers then flew off the handle and lynched Kumar. Three other policemen were injured in the fracas and are in hospital.
Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya expressed grief at the "unfortunate incident". He, however, said it could have avoided if the Bombay police had taken care to inform their local counterparts of their mission and take them along.
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