Two 'wanted' criminals killed in encounter in Lucknow

Two notorious criminals, carrying a cash reward of Rs50,000 each on their heads, were gunned down in an encounter in Noida today, a senior police official said.

On a tip off, a Special Task Force team of the UP police led by SSP Navin Arora, intercepted the criminals who were travelling in a car, on the Noida expressway near sector 93, ADG (law and order) Brij Lal said here.
    
In the ensuing encounter, the criminals -- Ajay Singh and Ashutosh Rai -- both hailing from Ballia, were gunned down, while one of their associates managed to escape, the ADG said, adding the deceased were carrying cash reward of Rs50,000 each on their heads.

The duo had in 2003 fled from police custody while being brought to Ballia from Mau jail in connection with a case, he said. Later, they had floated a new gang and had influence in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Delhi and UP, he added.

Today they had gone to Noida to purchase weapons, including AK 47 and carbine, to increase fire power of their gang, Lal said.

While Ajay had 20 cases registered against him, Ashutosh had ten cases against his name, the officer said.

A .9 MM carbine, a .9 mm pistol, a .32 bore pistol, cartridges, a Nissan Sunny car, mobile phone and sim card were recovered from the duo.