Ghaziabad/Noida, May 27 -- A late-night raid by Noida police in Ghaziabad's Nahal village ended in tragedy on Sunday, when constable Saurabh Kumar was shot dead - allegedly by a hostile mob - exposing apparent gaps in coordination between the police forces of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, investigators aware of the case details said on Monday. The seven-member team from Noida, comprising three sub-inspectors and four constables, entered Nahal village around 11pm on Sunday to arrest a man named 29-year-old Qadir, a known habitual offender wanted in a recent case of car parts theft. The FIR mentioned an unidentified person as a suspect. Ghaziabad police officials said that the operation was carried out without any formal intimation to the local police station in whose jurisdiction the raid was being conducted. According to Gautam Budh Nagar police officers, only one of the officers in the raiding team was in uniform, and he remained in the police vehicle. The rest, including constable Kumar, were in plainclothes and rode into the narrow lanes of the village on motorcycles, reportedly on the advice of an informer. The tip-off, the FIR stated, had flagged to the team that Nahal was known to shelter criminal elements and could be dangerous. Around half an hour into the operation, the team allegedly came under attack from unidentified locals, including Qadir and his brother (who remains absconding). In the chaos that followed, Kumar was reportedly shot in the head. Another constable fell from his bike while trying to flee as the mob turned on the team. Ghaziabad police said they were only informed of the raid at around 11.30pm on Sunday-after shots had already been fired. "Prima facie, the Ghaziabad police were not informed about the raid by the Gautam Budh Nagar police team," said Surendra Nath Tiwary, DCP (Rural), Ghaziabad. "We will verify this. An investigation is underway." Ghaziabad additional commissioner of police (crime) Alok Priyadarshi confirmed that there had been "no official communication" from Noida police prior to the raid. "We do not know if they informed us informally. That is being looked into. We are scanning CCTV footage from the village to reconstruct the sequence of events," he said. "The Noida team said multiple rounds were fired at them, so far we have recovered only one bullet casing," said DCP Tiwary. The Ghaziabad police have registered a case at the Masuri police station against Qadir, his brother, and other unidentified assailants for the attack based on the complaint by the raiding police team. Gautam Budh Nagar police, however, downplayed the need for formal intimation. "As Noida and Ghaziabad are both from the same state and are part of the National Capital Region (NCR), we sometimes do not follow the formal procedure of notifying the local police before conducting raids," said Rajiv Narayan Mishra, additional CP, Gautam Budh Nagar. "We generally coordinate verbally. On Monday, Ghaziabad police were informed verbally that a team had gone to make an arrest." He also defended the raid. "Multiple teams conduct raids daily. This one turned fatal, unfortunately. Constable Saurabh was the only one hit by a bullet. Another constable fell while escaping due to a speed breaker," he said. When asked if senior officers were aware of the raid beforehand, additional DCP of GB Nagar Dr Hridesh Katheriya replied, "It is our internal matter," and declined further comment. Another senior officer of GB Nagar police, requesting anonymity, said Qadir had previously been arrested from the same area in 2024, during which a 20-member team was used due to the locality's volatile nature. "This time, they might have underestimated the risk," the officer said....