Wanted criminal gunned down police encounter, four other held
Kaushambi: The Kaushambi police team gunned down a criminal wanted in the May 15 murder of a truck driver in an encounter late on Saturday night. Two policemen, including the station officer of Kokhraj police station, narrowly escaped during the operation.
The slain criminal, named
Santosh alias Raju
, 30, a resident of Jaunpur, had six pending criminal cases against him in various police stations across the country, including Mumbai. A substantial cache of arms and loot was recovered from the encounter site, including a looted copper wire-laden truck carrying copper wires worth Rs 4 crore, a car, one country-made pistol of 0.32 bore, four cartridges and one used cartridge.
The encounter is linked to the case where a group of three criminals, including Santosh, shot dead truck driver Sabarmal Meena, a resident of Ajmer, and looted the copper-laden truck near National Highway-2 under Kokhraj police station limits.
The truck, carrying railway contact wires from Gujarat to Subedarganj in Prayagraj, was targeted by the criminals. The driver's body was discovered near NH-2 on May 16.
On Saturday night, a team of Kokhraj police received a tip-off about five car-borne persons planning to dispose of the looted copper wire near Kakoda village.
The Kaushambi police arrested five members, including four scrap dealers — Mohd Akram, Shakeel Ahmed, Amit Kumar, and Aftab, residents of Kanpur and Prayagraj — who had arrived in Kaushambi to purchase looted copper.
The police also apprehended a criminal involved in the murder of the truck driver, who allegedly contacted these scrap dealers to resell the stolen copper wire.
During interrogation, the assailant, identified as Raju alias Santosh, revealed information about the pistol used in the crime. He led the police to a spot near Kakoda village, where he had allegedly hidden the weapon. However, upon retrieving the pistol, the assailant opened fire at the police party.
The police retaliated, injuring the criminal in the ensuing exchange. Despite bullets hitting their bulletproof jackets, two policemen narrowly escaped harm.
The injured assailant was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead upon arrival.
The police have announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 each for information leading to the capture of two other accomplices, Ranjeet Rajbhar and Kartik Rajbhar, residents of Azamgarh and Jaunpur, respectively. According to the police, the slain criminal and his gang targeted trucks on highways, looting them after killing the drivers. Investigations revealed that the gang used a VOIP call with an Indonesian SIM to contact a Mumbai-based individual, who provided the number of a Kanpur-based scrap dealer to dispose of the looted copper.
Further investigation is underway to uncover any additional details about the criminal network and potential accomplices.
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