Encounter spree in Uttar Pradesh: Wanted criminal gunned down in Noida

Ghaziabad: In a major crackdown on dreaded criminals, the Uttar Pradesh police carried out five back-to-back five encounters in less than 24 hours between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at various places of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts.

In one of these encounters, which occurred in Noida Phase-3, Noida Police shot dead a wanted criminal, carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head and confiscated an AK-47 assault rifle from the spot.

The encounter took place near Parthala Chowk early Sunday morning and also led to three policemen sustained bullet injuries, who are undergoing treatment.

"Acting on a tip-off, the criminal, identified Shravan Chaudhary (30), travelling in a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dezire car, was intercepted by a police team near Parthala chowk around 6.15 am. Instead of stopping, Chaudhary and his accomplices opened fire on the police team through the AK-47 rifle and an automatic gun. In retaliation, police gunned down him down, while his accomplice managed to flee. Chaudhary died while being taken to the hospital," said Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Meerut Zone.

Police said that Chaudhary was the mastermind of a gang that snatched an SUV from the driver of a media group in 2017 here. He had also killed a man in Delhi over personal enmity in 2016.

He was also wanted in over 12 cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and vehicle thefts in Delhi-NCR.

Meanwhile, in Ghaziabad, 35-year-old Sunder, wanted in a number cases of murder and robbery, and carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, was nabbed after an encounter with police in Vijay Nagar area on late Saturday night.

However, he died during treatment at a hospital on Sunday evening. Naresh Kumar, the SHO of Vijay Nagar police station, was also injured in the fire-fight.

The other encounters were reported from Dankaur and Noida-Greater Noida expressway areas of Gautam Budh Nagar, wherein cops arrested five robbers following a gun battle. Two criminals suffered bullet injuries in the leg in the encounter of Dankaur area and taken to a hospital after arrest.