Meerut: Uttar Pradesh Police gunned down alleged gangster Anil Dujan in an encounter at a village in this western UP district on Thursday, officials said. He is an accused in 18 cases of murder.
The gangster who was recently released from prison on bail, opened fire at a Special Task Force (STF) after being cornered and the team retaliated, the police said His car had crashed into a pole.
Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the state police have been keeping tabs on 65 gangsters, including Dujana who was known for terrorising people in the national capital region (NCR) by his criminal activities.
The encounter took place on the day of polling for the first phase of the urban local body elections in the state. The Yogi Adityanath government's major poll plank has been its "strict" handling of law and order.
Days earlier, gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad Ahmad and his accomplice were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police. A couple of days later, Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were gunned down in Prayagraj by three men while they were being escorted to a hospital by the police.
Additional Director General of Uttar Pradesh STF Amitabh Yash said, "Anil Dujana (43), a wanted criminal, was surrounded by our team led by Additional SP of UP STF Brijesh Singh in a village in Meerut on Thursday afternoon. He fired at our team to escape and was killed in retaliatory firing."
In a press statement, the Uttar Pradesh STF said Dujana was alone in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
"According to preliminary information, Anil Dujana was going to meet some of his gang members. The SUV he was travelling in collided with an electric pole after being surrounded by the STF team," Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.
He was recently released from prison on bail and was trying to build his gang again, the officer said, adding a case of extortion was also lodged against him at Dadri Police Station of Gautam Buddh Nagar.
The STF claimed that Dujana was travelling from Baghpat to Muzaffarnagar to meet his gang members to plan and carry out a "big operation."
Four pistols and several cartridges were seized from the encounter spot, Kumar said.
Dujana had 65 cases, including 18 of murder, lodged against him in western Uttar Pradesh districts and Delhi, police said.
The first case against him was lodged at Kavinanagr police station of Ghaziabad in 2002 for murder and the latest was lodged at Dadri police station this year for alleged extortion.
According to STF officials, Anil Dujana, in his initial years, used to work for the Sundar Bhati gang in western Uttar Pradesh.
He later turned against Sundar Bhati, resulting in a gang war that continued for almost a decade. Despite his arrests on several occasions, Dujana remained active even from behind bars, even planning and ordering the killings of many of his rivals, the officials said.
(With PTI inputs)
