Dreaded criminal killed in Noida encounter

Noida: Continuing their crackdown on wanted criminals, a dreaded criminal, Balraj Bhati, was killed in an encounter in a joint operation conducted by Special Task Force (STF) Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Police in sector 41 area of Noida on Monday morning.

Police said that Balraj had a bounty of Rs 2.5 lakhs on him including Rs one lakh each from Delhi and Haryana Police and Rs 50,000 from the Uttar Pradesh Police.

According to police, gangster Balraj Bhati, a native of Bulandshahr district, was a sharp shooter and a close aide of most wanted criminal Sunder Bhati and had around two dozen cases of murder, extortion and attempt to murder in different police stations of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. As per senior police officials, the gangster travelling in a car along with two other accomplices was intercepted by police at sector 49/41 traffic crossing near Agahpur village of Noida.

"Based on tip-off, teams were deployed at the red light to intercept the criminals. However as police tried to stop them, they opened fire on cops and sped away the car. The car collided into the footpath and the criminals started running away leaving the car at the spot, "said Raj Kumar Mishra, Deputy Superintendent of police, Utter Pradesh STF.

Mishra further informed that as the police chased them Balraj entered the Bikaner restaurant and scaled a wall to reach terrace of the restaurant. As he fired at the cops, the police retaliated, and Bhati sustained bullet injuries in the gun battle. However when police rushed him to a district hospital, he was declared brought dead. Meanwhile his two associates managed to flee the area, added Mishra.

Police said that a 7-year old child and a 30-year-old man also suffered bullet injuries in the firing initiated by gangsters. Also two Haryana STF constables sustained bullet injuries in stomach and leg.

The police have recovered a 9 mm carbine, 9 mm pistol and around 7 live cartridges from the possession of criminal.

Balraj was wanted in a number of heinous criminal cases. He was also booked for the murder case of a BJP leader last year in Gautam Buddh Nagar district. He was also involved in the killing of Vijay Bhati, a former chairman of the Dadri Municipal Corporation. Since Sunder Bhati was imprisoned for a murder case, Balraj was actively operating gang.