LUCKNOW/UNNAO, Sept 23: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday said it has gunned down a second accused in the Sultanpur jewellery store robbery case in a pre-dawn encounter in Unnao district.
The gunfight between the accused, Anuj Pratap Singh, and the Lucknow unit of the Special Task Force (STF) broke out around 4 am on Monday in the Achalganj area, officials said.
On August 28, jewellery worth approximately Rs 1.5 crore was stolen from Bharat Jewellers in Thatheri market of Sultanpur city in the Achalganj police station area.
Related Posts:
The STF had gunned down Mangesh Yadav, another accused in the case, on September 5 in an encounter. The killing sparked a political controversy with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress calling the encounter “fake”.
SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that the action was based on the “caste” of the accused while the state police denied all such claims.
The STF said in a statement that it received a tip-off on Sunday that Anuj Pratap Singh had come to the Ganga Katari area of Unnao with an associate armed with deadly weapons and the two would leave for Raebareli on a motorcycle at night with the looted jewellery.
Acting on the information, the STF team from Lucknow reached the Koluhagada-Achalganj underpass on the Raebareli-Unnao highway at 10.45 pm on Sunday night. The team split into two units and started checking after cordoning off the area, it said.
A motorcycle was seen coming from Koluhagada at a very high speed. Seeing the vehicle, the informer told the STF team that it was Singh and his associate, it added.
“An attempt was made to stop the motorcycle, but the motorcyclist tried to turn the vehicle towards the unpaved road and slipped and fell due to grass and mud,” the STF said.
When the STF team asked the accused to surrender, Singh and his associate opened fire at the police personnel “with the intention to kill”, it said.
“Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramesh Kumar Shukla had a narrow escape and Head Constable Ravi Verma was hit by a bullet but survived because he was wearing a bulletproof jacket,” the STF said.
In retaliatory firing, Singh sustained a bullet injury and fell on the side of the road. He was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead, it said.
Additional Director General of Police (STF and Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said Singh was a resident of Janapur village in Amethi district. His associate managed to escape.
Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Singh’s arrest.
Superintendent of Police, Unnao, Deepak Bhuker said Singh had a criminal record.
“Two pistols, seven empty cartridges, three live cartridges and a bag containing silver jewellery were recovered from his possession. A motorcycle was also impounded from the encounter site,” Bhuker said.
Sultanpur Superintendent of Police Somen Barma said that during the investigation of the robbery case, the names of 14 accused came to light, out of which police have taken action against 11.
He said searches are being carried out to nab the remaining three accused — Arbaaz, Furkan and Ankit Yadav.
“One of these 11 accused was Anuj Pratap Singh, who died today in an encounter with the STF in Unnao district. Singh was one of the five accused who carried out the robbery by entering the jewellery shop,” he said.
“Before this, Singh had committed a bank robbery in Surat, Gujarat and had gone to jail in the case,” he added.
All the gold jewellery that was looted, which is about 2.6 kg, has been recovered. Police have also recovered 30 kg of silver jewellery, Barma said. (PTI)
