Goon shot in encounter

Four criminals, including Manoj Morkheria, an inter-state gang lord wanted in at least 16 criminal cases and with a Rs. 1 lakh bounty on his head, were nabbed on National Highway-1 near Alipur on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Four criminals, including Manoj Morkheria, an inter-state gang lord wanted in at least 16 criminal cases and with a Rs. 1 lakh bounty on his head, were nabbed on National Highway-1 near Alipur on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

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A 26-year-old accomplice of Morkheria was also killed during the encounter with a special team of the crime branch on Wednesday during which the criminals were arrested, said Ravindra Yadav, additional commissioner of police (crime).

“We had been tracking his movements for nearly a month. We received information on Wednesday that he and his associates would travel from near Alipur village in northwest Delhi,” said Yadav.

The police claimed that a team was positioned on the GT-Karnal Road and spotted Morkheria, who was travelling in a Maruti Ritz with four others, later identified as Rinku, Vivek, Rakesh and Praveen.

The police said the car was being driven by Rinku, who managed to escape while the remaining four accused were arrested after a brief exchange of fire between the two groups.

“The team had been followed the accused for half an hour. When the accused finally realised that they were being followed, they tried to speed up but were intercepted half-a-kilometre away,” said an officer who was part of the police team.

The police said the car’s occupant’s opened fire at the team during which Rakesh, involved in two murder cases, sustained a bullet injury to his hip.

Rakesh was taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital where he succumbed to the bullet injury.