Dreaded contract killer gunned down in Mathura

He had over 38 criminal cases, including the murders of contractors and police personnel in UP and Bihar.

LUCKNOW: A dreaded criminal associated with two late Mafioso-turned-politicians, Mukhtar Ansari and Shahabuddin, was gunned down in retaliatory firing during a fierce encounter with the UP Special Task Force (STF) under the Farah police station limits of Mathura district on Wednesday morning, said senior police officials in Lucknow.

He said Yadav opened fire on the police team when they asked him to surrender and was shot in retaliatory firing. (Sourced)

They said the gunned-down criminal, Pankaj Yadav, had terrorised the region by committing multiple murders and loot incidents across eastern UP and Bihar over the past two decades. He carried a reward of ₹1 lakh on his head, issued by the additional director general (ADG) of Varanasi, in a gangster act case pending against him. Yadav hailed from Tahirpur village under the Raniapur police station of Mau district and was a listed history-sheeter from the same police station.

Sharing further details, ADG (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said that the STF had been tracking Pankaj Yadav’s location for the past few months and laid a trap to arrest him following a tip-off about his movement near Rosu village on NH-19 under the Farah police station limits at around 5:20 am on Wednesday.

He said Yadav opened fire on the police team when they asked him to surrender and was shot in retaliatory firing. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead and his body was sent for a post-mortem, they said.

The official said Pankaj Yadav had been involved in several sensational incidents, including the murder of contractor Manna Singh and police personnel Satish Kumar, who was deployed in the contractor’s security, on March 19, 2010. He also mentioned that Yadav, along with one Kali Pasi, was involved in robbing a pistol from two Bihar police constables, Ashok Kumar Singh and Amar Nath Singh, after shooting them on April 20, 2010. In that incident, Ashok Kumar Singh was killed while the other constable was seriously injured.

Another police official said Yadav had executed several contract killings at the behest of Mafiosos from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He said that as many as 38 criminal cases, including six cases of murder and five cases of attempted murder, were registered against Yadav between 2007 and 2021.

The official added that the elimination of Yadav would bring relief to contractors and businessmen in Purvanchal (east UP and Bihar), as he extorted money from them even while being imprisoned. In 2012, he was arrested in connection with a murder and robbery case in Azamgarh and remained in Azamgarh jail for a period. During his incarceration, he, along with Shyam Babu Pasi—another associate of Mukhtar Ansari—extorted money from several businessmen, jewellers, and contractors by making calls from inside the jail. The police had recovered 17 mobile phones from him and his associates during surprise checks at the Azamgarh jail.