Two gunned down in Sahibabad encounter

GHAZIABAD: Two gangsters were killed and three others arrested in two separate encounters near bordering Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

In Sahibabad, a police team busted an extortion racket and gunned down two criminals, one of whom was involved in the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Delhi, and was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh.

Based on specific information that some criminals were on their way to pick up extortion money from the parents of a child, Ghaziabad police had put up check posts.

Around 2 am on Saturday, cops noticed the criminals on the bikes and chased them.

The bike-borne criminals opened fire on the police team, in which a senior sub-inspector sustained a bullet wound.

During retaliatory firing, two criminals were shot dead.

In another incident, a shootout between police and criminals took place in Sector 58 of Noida, wherein a robbery was averted.

Noida Superintendent of Police (City) Arun Kumar said that they had received a tip-off that a gang of robbers was headed to Fortis Hospital to rob cash that was scheduled to move from the hospital

Acting on the input, police teams intercepted the four men, who had come on motorcycles, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

Policemen asked the criminals to stop, but they opened fire at the police team. The team was left with no choice but to retaliate.

One criminal was injured in retaliatory firing and apprehended. Three others tried to escape, but two of them were nabbed.