Gangster shot by joint police team in Noida

In a joint operation by UP and Haryana STF (Special Task Force), a wanted criminal, carrying Rs 2.5 lakh reward on his arrest, was shot dead at Sector 41 in Noida on Monday morning. While two of his gang members escaped, two head constables from Gurgaon and two civilians, aged 13 and 30, were injured in the crossfire.

Police said they intercepted a car that gangster Balraj Bhati, a native of Bulandshahr and an erstwhile Delhi police constable, was traveling in along with his two accomplices, at a crossing near the Agahpur village in Noida. "They rammed into a footpath in an attempt to flee from the police," said Raj Kumar Mishra, Deputy Superintendent of Police, UP STF.

Soon firing ensued and he got hit. "Though he was taken to the district hospital, doctors declared him brought dead," said Mishra.

Balraj was booked for the murder of a BJP leader in Gautam Buddh Nagar last year. He was also involved in the killing of Vijay Bhati, a former chairman of Dadri Municipal Corporation.