E-Paper
Criminal wanted in murder, loot case gunned down in Lucknow
Rahul Singh shot down during vehicle-checking drive on Bandha road around 3am. He suffered injuries during retaliatory firing by the police while one of his accomplices managed to escape
LUCKNOW Dreaded criminal, Rahul Singh, who was wanted in a murder and loot at a jewellery shop in Lucknow among other cases, was killed here in an encounter with the UP Police on Friday. He was carrying a reward of ₹1lakh on his head.
A resident of Shahjahanpur, Singh was gunned down during a vehicle-checking drive on Bandha road under Hasanganj police station limits around 3am, Prachi Singh, Lucknow additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), North, told media.
Four firearms, including two country-made pistols, a country-made rifle and a country-made shot gun as well as a huge cache of cartridges, were recovered from him.
She said Rahul Singh opened fire when the police team tried to intercept his motorcycle. He suffered gunshot injuries during retaliatory firing by the police team while one of his accomplices managed to escape.
Rahul succumbed to injuries during treatment at the KGMU’s Trauma Centre. He was wanted in two loot cases – in Aliganj and Ashiana area in September and December last year, she said.
The ADCP said Singh had over half a dozen cases of loot, murder and attempt to murder against him. He was the prime accused in the loot at the jewellery shop in Lucknow’s Aliganj area on December 8, 2021.
In the incident, the miscreants had shot at a salesman of the shop, Shravan Kumar, who later succumbed to injuries during treatment.
Over the past five days, Rahul Singh was the second criminal gunned down in the state, after the BJP returned to the power. As many as 160 criminals were gunned down by the police since the formation of the first Yogi Adityanath government in March, 2017.
On Monday, the UP Police Special Task Force (STF) had gunned down one Manish Singh alias Sonu near Ring Road in the Lohta area of Varanasi. A 0.32 bore pistol and a 9 mm carbine, and several cartridges were recovered from his possession.
