Mukhtar Ansari aide and dreaded shooter killed in Lucknow encounter

A dreaded shooter related to gangster turned politician Mukhtar Ansari and in addition an accused in BJP chief Krishnanand Rai’s 2005 homicide was gunned down by Uttar Pradesh particular process drive on the outskirts of Lucknow on Sunday morning, police officers mentioned.

Rakesh Pandey alias Hanuman Pandey carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, officers added.

They mentioned Pandey was concerned in a number of murders and shoot-outs, carried out allegedly by Mukhtar Ansari’s gang prior to now 27 years. Ansari was accused of hatching a conspiracy to kill Rai– an MLA from Mohammadabad meeting constituency in Ghazipur– whereas in jail, however was acquitted throughout trial in a decrease courtroom.

Mukhtar Ansari and one other gangster Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi are additionally accused in Rai’s homicide case.

Bajrangi was shot lifeless by one other gangster Sunil Rathi inside Baghpat jail on July 9, 2018.

STF inspector basic (IG) of police Amitabh Yash mentioned a workforce was constantly making an attempt to trace Pandey for the previous many months.

“Pandey was gunned down in retaliatory firing while the team was trying to arrest him when he came to meet one of his accomplices on Kanpur Road, under Sarojini Nagar police station limits,” Yash mentioned.

He mentioned Pandey was in a four-wheeler with 4 different individuals however the others managed to flee through the encounter.

Another STF official mentioned Pandey had a minimum of 10 felony circumstances registered in opposition to him between 1993 and 2012. He added that no felony case was lodged in opposition to him after 2012, nevertheless, his involvement surfaced in two circumstances, together with fraudulent procurement of firearms licence in his spouse Saroj Lata Pandey’s title in Mau in 2004 and buy of two pistols from a gangster Neeraj Singh in May 2020.

The official mentioned a case of procuring firearms licence was lodged in opposition to his spouse and the then station officer of Kopaganj police station Mritunjay Mishra (for negligence) on the Kopaganj police station of Mau on July eight this yr.

He added that the STF was, nevertheless, tracing him since May 28 this yr when the arrest of two criminals — Neeraj Singh and Shubham Mishra — revealed that Pandey was amassing firearms and ammunition and was planning some crime.