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Updated: Jun 07, 2019 01:23 IST

With the Lok Sabha elections over, Uttar Pradesh police are back in action.

Adopting a tough stance against criminals, the police gunned down a criminal in Pratapgarh and arrested five others following encounters in Kanpur, Barabanki and Azamgarh districts on Thursday morning.

Between March 2017 and March 2019, the UP police had gunned down 78 criminals and arrested 980 others after encounters across the state.

On Thursday morning, notorious gangster Tauqir, who was wanted in several cases of murder and carried a reward of ₹1 lakh on his arrest, was gunned down by a team of the special task force (STF), Lucknow, in Pratapgarh.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), STF, Abhishek Singh said the team had a gunfight with Tauqir when they reached Pratapgarh after a tip off about his presence there.

“Tauqir was killed in retaliatory firing by the police team while one of his unidentified accomplices escaped. The STF recovered three weapons, including a .30 calibre carbine and two .32 calibre pistols, from him,” he added.

He said Tauqir was wanted in cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and extortion.

“Tauqir was also involved in the killing of marble trader Rajesh Singh, jail warden Har Narayan Trivedi and village pradhan Dinesh Dubey in Pratapgarh,” Singh said, adding, “These back-to-back killings in Pratapgarh created terror among businessmen and contractors. Many of them had been paying extortion to Tauqir’s gang after these murders.”

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In Kanpur, two men, Shobhit Kumar and Devraj Mishra, suffered bullet injuries on their legs during an encounter with the police in Bithoor area. Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Kanpur, Anant Deo said, “Cases of loot and robbery were registered against them. They carried a reward of Rs 25,000 each on their heads.” He said one of their accomplices, Sajan, who also carried a reward of Rs 25,000, was arrested. Deo said a notorious thief Mangal Singh was also arrested after he was injured in retaliatory firing by the police in Govind Nagar area. “Singh had a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head,” he said.

Another criminal Amar Deep aka Lola, who had a reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest, was injured in an encounter with the police near Gahji village in Azamgarh.

Superintendent of police (SP), Azamgarh, Triveni Singh said Lola was hit on his leg while his aide Ravi Yadav managed to escape. In Barabanki, another criminal Raju (Rs 25,000 reward) suffered bullet injuries on his leg in an encounter. Earlier on June 3 and 5, Sunil Jaiswal and Shanu Qureshi, key accused in Barabanki adulterated liquor tragedy that claimed 24 lives, were also arrested after encounters.

On May 31, the police had arrested Waseem, key accused in the murder of Surendra Singh -- former village pradhan and a poll campaigner of BJP leader Smriti Irani. Waseem suffered a bullet injury on his right leg.

Surendra Singh was shot dead while he was sleeping in the verandah outside his house in Amethi’s Baraulia village on May 25.