In another incident of encounter killing in Uttar Pradesh, a 27-year-old man, accused in multiple cases of murder and dacoity, was shot dead by police personnel on Tuesday morning.
Police identified the deceased as 27-year-old Muhammed Gufran. He was an accused in over a dozen cases and carried a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh on his arrest.
According to Superintendent of Police Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, Gufran, a resident of the neighbouring Pratapgarh district, was injured in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force team near Samda village in the Kaushambi district. Though he was rushed to the district hospital, he succumbed to his injuries.
As per statistics, as many as 183 criminals have died in encounter killings since March 20, 2017, in the state. These included the recent murders of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, his brother and his son. Other gangsters who died in encounter killings include Vikas Dubey on July 10, 2020, and gangster Tinku Kapala the same year.
Opposition parties and human rights activists have questioned the genuineness of many of these incidents. At least one listed criminal has been killed every 13 days in a police encounter in the state in the past six years.