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UP man, wanted in criminal cases, killed in Uttarakhand encounter; SHO injured: Police
Wanted history-sheeter from UP shot dead in Dehradun encounter after robbery; Premnagar SHO injured, two accomplices flee, police launch search
A 36-year-old resident of Uttar Pradesh, wanted in multiple criminal cases, was shot dead in a police encounter in Uttarakhand’s Premanagar area on Wednesday night after he and two accomplices allegedly robbed a contractor by opening fire and later shot at a pursuing police team, officers said.
Premnagar Station House Officer (SHO) Naresh Rathore, who was leading the police team, was injured by a bullet. The two remaining suspects managed to flee, and officers launched a search operation across the district to trace them.
Police said the deceased, Akram Ali, a resident of Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh, and his associates had come to a district court in Dehradun on Wednesday morning and were caught committing the robbery the same night.
Police officers said that more than a dozen cases of murder, robbery, dacoity, and other serious offences were registered against Ali in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. He was the prime suspect in a 2014 murder-cum-robbery case in Balawala. He allegedly shot dead a man named Ankit during a house robbery. He was absconding for nearly three years, carrying a reward of ₹50,000 on his arrest, before being nabbed by Dehradun police in 2017.
Inspector General of Police (Garhwal) Rajiv Swarup said that at around 10.35 pm on Wednesday, the Premnagar police station was informed through the control room that unidentified criminals had shot a man on Pondha Road and subsequently robbed him.
“Our police team reached the spot and found the injured victim, identified as Devraj, a contractor, who told officers that a group of men travelling in a black car with a Gujarat registration plate intercepted his scooter, shot him, and looted his bag containing ₹2 lakh in cash, a mobile phone, a diary, and other documents before fleeing towards Vishranti,” Swarup said, adding that Devraj received first aid.
The police team launched a hunt and spotted the suspects’ car heading towards a forest area. “The occupants of the vehicle opened fire, abandoned the car, and fled into the woods when chased. They opened fire again, during which the Premnagar SHO was injured,” Swarup said.
He said that retaliatory firing was carried out in self-defence. “One of them was injured, while the others managed to escape, taking advantage of the darkness. The injured person later died during treatment at the Coronation Hospital,” he added.
The SHO is out of danger, the police said.
Two separate cases were registered at the Premnagar police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the robbery and the attack on the police team.
Senior superintendent of police, Dehradun, Pramendra Dobhal, said that police are investigating whether the Wednesday night robbery was pre-planned, as it appeared to have been carried out after a recce.
Dobhal added that the Gujarat registration number on the vehicle used by the accused appears to be fake, as a car bearing the same number is registered in Gujarat.
