Lucknow: Two criminals carrying bounties totalling ₹1.5 lakh were killed in separate police encounters in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and Bulandshahr districts during late-night operations on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, police said.
UP Police will continue their crackdown on organised and violent crime, Additional Director General (ADG), law and order, Amitabh Yash said.
A Special Task Force (STF) team, acting on intelligence inputs, intercepted Siraj Ahmad, wanted in a murder case and carrying a reward of ₹1 lakh, in the Gangoh area of Saharanpur on the Punjab–Haryana border.
Ahmad, a resident of Lolepur in Sultanpur district, allegedly opened fire on the STF team, and the police retaliated in self-defence, during which Ahmad was injured, police officers said.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died during treatment, the officers added.
Police recovered a motorcycle, two pistols (.30 bore and .32 bore), a large quantity of live cartridges, spent shells, four mobile phones, two Wi-Fi dongles, a bag and identity documents from his possession.
Ahmad had over 30 cases, including murder, attempt to murder and cases under the National Security Act (NSA), registered against him across multiple districts of Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}Ahmad had over 30 cases, including murder, attempt to murder and cases under the National Security Act (NSA), registered against him across multiple districts of Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}In a separate incident in Bulandshahr, a joint team of Kotwali Dehat and Gulawathi police opened fire in retaliation when Azad alias Zubair alias Peter allegedly fired at them.
During the encounter, a police personnel was injured and 35-year-old Azad, carrying a ₹50,000 reward, was killed.
Zubair was taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Police recovered an illegal .315-bore firearm with live and spent cartridges and a motorcycle without a registration number.
Zubair, a resident of the Lisadi Gate area in Meerut, was wanted in multiple cases of robbery and theft, including a mobile phone, motorcycle and cash robbery on November 2, 2025, and the theft of 18 goats from a farm in the Gulawathi area earlier this year.
He had around 47 criminal cases registered against him across districts in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, including charges of robbery, dacoity, theft and gang-related offences.
According to official police data, a total of 265 criminals have been killed in separate police encounters in Uttar Pradesh since March 2017.