27 April,2010 07:32 AM IST | | Shashank Shekhar
Special Task Force guns down two wanted gangsters in a gruelling encounter on Greater Noida Expressway
They have had a movie made on themu00a0-- the 2005 flick Sehar. Monday brought another shot in the arm for the Special Task Force (STF) of the UP police, as they proved their worth as real life stars. In a major breakthrough, a crack team of the STF shot dead two dreaded fugitivesu00a0 involved in the dealing of arms and ammunition, on the Greater Noida Expressway.
Rendezvous point: The Sedan used by the criminals on Monday when
the encounter took place on the Greater Noida Expressway.
PICs/IMTIYAZ KHAN
For months, the Special Task Forceu00a0-- renowned for cracking the most difficult cases in the stateu00a0-- had been monitoring the whereabouts of the wanted gangsters Ashutosh Rai and Ajay Singh, who were carrying a bounty of Rs 50,000 each.u00a0u00a0
According to the STF, the notorious criminals were in the Capital for the last three days to strike an arms deal.
"The STF team of Varanasi was observing the moves of the gangsters through electronic surveillance for the last three months. The moment we got to know that they are coming to buy heavy arms and ammunition, we pressed in for a additional team," said Navin Arora, SSP STF Lucknow, who had earlier served as SSP Noida.
The Force was tracking down the calls made by Rai and Singh from various locations in Delhi. And finally, the criminals planned a deal at the Expressway during the afternoon where STF Lucknow along with their Varanasi and Noida counterparts tried to stop them. Having caught the fugitives off-guard, the Force asked them to surrender, but instead the criminals opened fire, resulting in an encounter. The assailants fired around 25 bullets at the police and in exchange, the cops gunned down the two. One of their accomplices managed to escape; the police are still looking for him.
The duo hailed from the small town of Balia in UP and were travelling in a luxury car ufffd Sedan. Interestingly, the car carried a black and white number plate, but it was an embassy number ufffd 17-CD-AF. The police are still investigating the antecedents of the stolen vehicle.
"In 2003, the duo had fled from the police custody while being brought to Balia from Mau Jail in connection with a case. Later, they had formed a new gang and had started operating in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Delhi and UP. They had come to Noida to purchase weapons, including AK-47s and carbines, to increase the firepower of their gang," added Arora.
Case files
April 12, 2010: Noida police gunned down a notorious criminal carrying a bounty of Rs 50,000 on his head who was wanted in various cases in Haryana and Delhi. The assailant was identified as Farooque alias Langra, a resident of Meerut, who had no crime record in Noida. Langra was shot near Mahamaya flyover around five in the morning.
January 2, 2010: While trying to escape from a police checkpoint near Gautam Budh Nagar, wanted gangster Saleem was gunned down in an encounter. The police said the incident took place at around 4.30 pm when they intercepted the car in which Saleem was travelling with an aide.
October 14, 2009: The Noida Phase II police shot three men on the spot - Mohammed Wasim (22), Imran (22), and Shekhar Sharma (22) - who had abducted the personal attendant of the CEO of the Greater Noida Authority.
June 7, 2009: A wanted criminal was shot while trying to escape the police. Ateeq, a resident of Dadri village, was wanted for the murder of a eunuch, Rekha.
February 24, 2009: The Noida police gunned down two suspected criminals at Phase II, Sector 149. The men were identified as Vinay Katiyar and Mukesh.
February 3, 2009: The Noida police killed a wanted criminal, Naval Kishore Bihari, a resident of Palamau, Jharkhand, near Phase-II police station of Noida. He had 14 cases of loot, extortion and murder registered against him in Ghaziabad.
January 25, 2009: The UP police gunned down two suspected terrorists - Ali Ahmed and Abdul Ismail - while they were trying to sneak into Delhi via Sector-93, Noida.
December 20, 2008: The Noida police, along with the Special Operation Group, Varanasi, killed Ravi Verma alias Lalu Verma, another wanted criminal. The encounter took place near Sector 93.
December 17, 2008: Narendra alias Kalu was shot dead by Sector 39 police near the Expressway leading to Sector 82.
