3 Encounters, 3 Hours, 3 Dead: UP Police’s Ruthless Crackdown on Notorious Criminals
Lucknow(The Uttam Hindu): In a dramatic display of swift law enforcement, Uttar Pradesh Police gunned down three most-wanted criminals in three separate encounters within a span of just three hours on Thursday. These included a notorious gangster from Jharkhand, Ashish Ranjan alias Chhotu Singh, and two contract killers involved in the sensational murder of journalist Raghvendra Bajpai in Sitapur.
The first encounter unfolded in Shankargarh, Prayagraj, after the Special Task Force (STF) received intelligence on the movement of Chhotu Singh, a resident of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. As the STF team intercepted him near Shivrajpur crossing, Chhotu opened fire using an AK-47 rifle and a 9mm pistol. In the exchange of fire, he was critically injured and later declared dead at the hospital. The STF recovered a cache of weapons, including the AK-47, pistol, a large quantity of cartridges, and a motorcycle used by the criminal. Fortunately, all STF personnel remained unharmed.
Around the same time, a major encounter took place in Pisawan area of Sitapur, along the Hardoi-Sitapur border, where two shooters involved in journalist Raghvendra Bajpai’s murder were tracked down and killed. These criminals had been on the run since March 8, the day Bajpai was shot dead on the Hempur Overbridge. Earlier in the investigation, two other accused, including a temple priest known as Kardev Mandir’s Baba, had already been sent to jail. The deceased shooters each carried a bounty of ₹1 lakh, and police had been on a continuous manhunt.
These back-to-back operations are being seen as a strong message by the UP Police against organized crime, and have helped close two high-profile criminal cases within hours.