UP Police gun down Faisal, ₹1 lakh rewardee and sharpshooter of Sanjeev Jiva gang

Shamli (The Uttam Hindu): A fierce encounter broke out between police and criminals late Thursday night in the Bhogi Majra forest of the Jhinjhana area of Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. In this operation by a joint team of Jhinjhana police and the Special Operations Group (SOG), a criminal carrying a reward of ₹1 lakh was killed, while an SOG constable was injured by gunfire.

The slain criminal has been identified as Faisal, an active shooter of the notorious Sanjeev Jeeva gang, who had been a headache for the police for a long time.

According to the police, on Thursday night at around 8 o'clock, some criminals were carrying out a robbery on Vedkhedi Road. During this, they stole cash, a mobile phone, and a bike from Jeetram, son of Ramchandra, a resident of Vedkhedi. Upon receiving information about the robbery, a joint team of Jhinjhana police station and the Special Operations Group (SOG) arrived at the scene and surrounded the criminals.

Seeing themselves cornered, the criminals opened fire on the police team. In the police's retaliatory fire, one of the criminals was seriously injured. He was immediately taken to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

During the encounter, SOG constable Deepak Nirvan was also shot and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Superintendent of Police Narendra Pratap Singh arrived at the scene upon receiving information about the incident and inspected the scene. The SP stated that the deceased criminal has been identified as Faisal, a resident of Khalapar, Muzaffarnagar. He was an active shooter of the Sanjeev Jiva gang and had cases registered against him in various police stations for several serious crimes, including murder, robbery, and extortion.

According to the police, an accomplice of the deceased criminal took advantage of the darkness and fled the scene. Police teams have launched an intensive combing operation in the forest to search for the escaped criminal. Two motorcycles, two pistols, several live cartridges and spent shells were recovered from the scene.