Wanted criminal killed in encounter in UP's Saharanpur

Saharanpur (UP), Oct 6 (PTI) A wanted criminal carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head was killed in an encounter in which two police personnel also sustained injuries, official said on Monday.

Imran was killed in the encounter on Sunday night and two .32-bore pistols with a number of cartridges and a stolen motorcycle were recovered from his possession.

The slain criminal along with his associates Mehtab and Naim was involved in a series of loot incidents across Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, and Shamli districts. Naim and Mehhtab were killed in previous encounters, police said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Saharanpur, Ashish Tiwari told PTI that the encounter took place in the Sarasawa police station area as a joint operation by the Sarasawa and Gagalhedi police station forces along with the Special Operations Group (SOG).

On Sunday night, Imran stole a motorcycle in the Gagalhedi area. Police pursued him and cornered him on the Dehradun-Ambala highway.

“Feeling trapped, Imran opened fire at the police, who returned fire. In the ensuing exchange, Imran was neutralised,” Tiwari said.

Gagalhedi SHO Pravesh Sharma sustained a gunshot injury to his left hand, while Sarasawa SHO Vinod Kumar’s bulletproof jacket deflected a shot and he suffered a minor injury.

Tiwari said the trio had created a reign of terror in western Uttar Pradesh and used modern firearms for their criminal activities.

“This operation is the result of Saharanpur police’s ‘Operation Clean-up’ strategy. The elimination of this notorious criminal provides an opportunity to rid Saharanpur, Shamli, and Muzaffarnagar of criminal elements,” he said. PTI COR ABN ABN DV DV