PTI, LUCKNOW: In a crackdown on criminals in western Uttar Pradesh, three wanted law breakers were killed and six others arrested in seven separate encounters in four districts, in which six policemen were also injured, police claimed today.
The encounters took place in Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Muzaffarnagar districts in past 24 hours in which three wanted criminals were killed and seven others arrested, DIG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar said.
Six policemen were also injured in the encounters, he told reporters here.
In Gautam Buddha Nagar, a shootout took place in the Sector 119 (phase-3) area in which Shravan Chowdhury, carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was injured, while his accomplice managed to escape, police officials said.
Chowdhury was taken to the district hospital, where he died during treatment, they said.
Crime Branch Inspector Balwan Singh and constables Satyaveer and Sanjeev were also injured in the encounter, the DIG said.
In Saharanpur, a notorious gangster, Salim, was killed in a shootout with the police, in which Sub-Inspector Sachin Sharma of Mandi police station was also hurt, Saharanpur Senior Superintendent of Police Bablu Kumar said.
Acting on a late night information that a gang had robbed a farmer of Rs 1 lakh and his motorcycle in Manoharpur village under the Sarsawa police station area, a swift action police team was deployed to nab the criminals, he said.
The SWAT team spotted the gangsters coming on bike from Chilkana and flagged them down to stop, but ignoring the signal, they opened fire on police.
The police returned the fire, killing one of the gangsters, while another one managed to flee in the darkness.
The slain gangster was identified as Salim, Bablu Kumar said.
The police managed to recover the looted money and the bike of farmer Nawab besides a pistol and several rounds of cartridges from the gangsters, the SSP said.
In another shootout at Vijay Nagar police station area of Ghaziabad, a local history sheeter, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, was arrested after an encounter with the police, Ghaziabad SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.
Sunder (35), hailing from Pilkhuwa town, was wanted in five cases of attempt to murder, killing and robbery, he said.
SSP Krishna said the encounter took place around 8.15 pm yesterday near Akbarpur Bahrampur on national highway 24. Sunder was on a bike, and when the police signalled him to stop, he opened fired on the police team.
