Bhati, a former constable with the Delhi Police, carried a bounty of Rs 2.5 lakh on his arrest
A child and a man were injured in the crossfire between a criminal and the Special Task Force in Noida on Monday morning. The joint operation was conducted by the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana STF (Special Task Force) in Sector 41 to nab the criminal carrying a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh on his arrest. The wanted criminal was shot dead in the encounter. However, two of his gang members managed to escape and two head constables of Gurgaon were also injured.
According to the police, the deceased identified as Balraj Bhati, a native of Bulandshahr district, was travelling in a car along with two other accomplices was intercepted by police at the crossing near the Agahpur village of Noida.
"We had got a tip-off about Bhati presence in the area to execute a crime, teams were deployed at the red light to intercept the criminals. However, as the police tried to stop them, they opened fire on the cops and sped away in the car. The car rammed into the footpath and the criminals started running away leaving the car on the spot, "said Raj Kumar Mishra, Deputy Superintendent of police, UP STF.
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.
"He was rushed to a district hospital where he was declared brought dead on arrival. Meanwhile, his two associates managed to flee the area," said Mishra.
Police said that a 7-year-old child and a 30-year-old man also suffered bullet injuries in the firing by the criminals. Two Haryana STF constables, Rajkumar and Bhupinder, sustained bullet injuries in stomach and leg.
Police said around 80 bullets were fired. They have recovered a 9mm carbine, 9 mm pistol and around 7 live cartridges from their possession.
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 the gang.
The police of three states — Haryana, Delhi, UP — had been trying to capture Bhatti for a long time. He was wanted for murder, robbery, gang wars and kidnappings. The three states had jointly announced a bounty of Rs 2.5 lakh on his name — Haryana and Delhi Rs 1 lakh each and UP Rs 50,000. He was wanted in more than six counts of murder.
Last year too, the police had tried to nab the gangster near Gurgaon, but he was successful in escaping with his gang members.
Before entering the life of crime, Bhati was a constable with Delhi Police. He was an accused in a murder case while in service. After being employed by the Delhi police, he became active in the crime world.
WANTED CRIMINAL
- The police of three states — Haryana, Delhi and UP had been trying to capture Bhatti for a long time. He was wanted for murder, robbery, gang wars and kidnappings. The three states had jointly announced a bounty of Rs 2.5 lakh on his name. He was wanted in more than six counts of murder.
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 "Balraj Bhati")
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