Kaushambi, Jun 27: The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police gunned down a wanted criminal in an early morning encounter in Kaushambi district on Tuesday. The slain criminal, identified as Mo Gufran, was wanted in several cases of murder and dacoity. He was carrying a reward of Rs 1,25,000 on his head.
Confirming the development, news agency ANI quoted SP Kaushambi Brijesh Srivastava as saying, “A criminal identified as Mo. Gufran has been killed in an encounter with UP STF near the Samda sugar mill of Manjhanpur, Kaushambi.”
According to reports, the encounter began when the Special Task Force team was confronted by Gufran during a raid in the Kaushambi district. Gufran opened fire on the STF team, which retaliated, and in the ensuing cross-firing, the criminal was seriously injured. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries. According to UP Police records, Gufran was wanted in more than 13 cases of murder, loot, and dacoity in Pratapgarh and other districts of Uttar Pradesh. The UP Police had announced a bounty of Rs 125,000 for any information leading to this capture.
The Kaushambi encounter is part of the Yogi Adityanath government’s crackdown on criminals and mafias across the state. Ever since Yogi Adityanath took over as Chief Minister in 2017, there had been close to 10,500 encounters across the state which resulted in the killing of nearly 185 criminals.