‘Going out for important work. Will come home & eat': Noida constable's last text to wife
Noida: Saurabh Kumar was always at the forefront of high-stakes action, which is why the 32-year-old constable was assigned to the special operations group (SOG) and was part of the seven-member team that went to Ghaziabad's Nahal village to catch Qadir, one of NCR's most wanted criminals.
"I'm going out for some important work, and will eat after returning," Saurabh told his wife Ayushi, when she messaged him around 9pm to ask about having dinner at home.
Ayushi called him two hours later, but the call went unanswered. Minutes after that, Saurabh was caught in an ambush and shot dead by around 8-10 miscreants during the raid.
The family was informed about his death by 1.30am.
Saurabh, who belonged to Badhaiv Kannukheda village in Shamli, always wanted to join the forces.
In 2016, he joined UP Police and was posted to Noida ever since. In 2020, he married Ayushi, daughter of a Delhi Police cop.
Saurabh's colleagues say he was one to count on.
"He was good at catching criminals. He was always part of the teams that would go to nab notorious criminals inside and outside the state. He played a role in many notable arrests and received honors," a colleague from the Phase 3 police station, where Saurabh was posted, told TOI on Monday.
Another colleague said that Saurabh had recently been talking about going on a vacation.
"He told us that it had been a long time since he went anywhere and would take a ten-day leave to go on a trip with his family," the colleague said.
Younger of the two brothers, Saurabh was the main breadwinner for his family. His father Uttam Kumar and brother Rajat, both farmers, stayed in their Shamli village, while Saurabh and Ayushi lived in a rented accommodation in Sector 122 of the city.
On Monday, villagers from the constable's hometown had travelled to the city to console the family and pay their tributes.
Saurabh's remains were brought to the house and cremated with full state honors. His father Uttam Kumar appealed to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure justice for the family and award the harshest possible punishment for the perpetrators.
Noida Police, too, rallied around the family.
Commissioner Laxmi Singh announced that every officer and employee of the Gautam Budh Nagar Commissionerate would contribute one day's salary while she would add Rs 1 lakh from her paycheck, totaling Rs 75.1 lakh that would be dedicated to the family.
"On behalf of Commissionerate Gautam Budh Nagar, we express our heartfelt condolences to the family of our martyred brave soldier," Singh said.
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