Dreaded dacoit Gauri Yadav aka Uday Bhan Yadav was gunned down in an encounter with a team of Special Task Force (STF) in Chitrakoot early Saturday morning.

The slain brigand was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his arrest, announced by UP Police and Rs 50,000 by Madhya Pradesh Police.

As per reports, the STF had been working on a case after a number of complaints of extortion demand by Gauri Yadav poured at various police stations of Chitrakoot. Gauri Yadav used to intervene in development works being carried out in Chitrakoot and demand protection money from contractors.

The STF sleuths were tipped-off about Gauri Yadav's plan to assemble in a forest in Bahilpurwa police station area on Friday and a team started a combing operation. It came to light that Gauri along with his aides had assembled deep inside the forest and started a fire to beat the cold.

The STF team moved in that direction and challenged the miscreants who started firing at the police team around 3:30 am on Saturday. The exchange of fire between the STF personnel and dacoits lasted for about two hours. When the firing finally stopped, the STF team searched the forest and found the body of a brigand who was later identified as Gauri Yadav.

The STF team also recovered an AK 47 assault rifle, one old model Kalashnikov semi automatic rifle, a factory made handgun of 12 bore, a country made pistol and a huge quantity of live cartridges lying near the brigand’s body.

Gauri Yadav was a listed dacoit and was wanted in at least 45 cases of heinous crime, including dacoity, kidnapping, murder and extortion.

The STF later said that Gauri Yadav was illiterate and he stepped into the world of crime and gore when he was very young and started his underworld career with small-time crimes. In due course, he gained notoriety and started his own gang and was named in at least 45 heinous crimes in Chitrakoot (UP) and Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.