Thaindian News

Lucknow, June 17 (IANS) Two policemen were killed Wednesday in an ongoing gun battle with bandits in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district, taking the toll to three, police said. Two senior officers were also injured in the gun fight which began Tuesday.
A commander of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and a police constable were killed Wednesday morning, a police officer said. A constable of the Special Operations Group was killed Tuesday night.

Over a dozen cops, including two senior officers, were injured in the fire-fight which had been on for the past 28 hours Wednesday evening.

Inspector General (IG) of the PAC B.K. Gupta and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Bada range S.K. Singh received bullet injuries Wednesday afternoon and were rushed to Allahabad by a helicopter.

Earlier in the day, the bandits set ablaze a couple of houses in a bid to change their position in the village where they have been surrounded by the police.

“However, the fire brigade doused the flames… we are making all efforts to finish off the proceedings soon,” Singh told IANS before sustaining the injury.

A policeman said the bandits stopped firing after the fire was doused.

“Suspecting that the dacoits were killed, a team led by the IG and DIG went closer to the burnt house. However, the bandits started firing again from a different location injuring the officials,” said the policeman, requesting anonymity.

The gunfight started after the Commando team of the Special Task Force reached Suruwal Rajapur village in Chitrakoot, 280 km from here, on a tip off that bandits, including wanted criminal Ghanshyam Kewat, were hiding there.

“We hope to eliminate the bandits by today (Wednesday) evening and it seems that they are heavily armed,” Inspector General Allahabad Range S.P. Shukla earlier told IANS.

It was not clear how many bandits are engaged in the fire-fight with the police.

The village was cordoned off by the police to prevent the bandits from escaping.

“A helicopter has also been sent to the spot to carry on rescue and medical operations for our cops,” Additional Director General of Police Brijlal told reporters.

Kewat, who carries a reward of Rs.50,000 on his head, and his gang operate in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where they have committed over two dozen murders, abductions and other crimes, a police officer said

Sensing the intensity of the encounter, Brijlal has also left for Chitrakoot to head the operations.