A day after a Delhi Police constable was killed while on duty, the main accused in the case was shot dead in an encounter by police personnel in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area early Sunday morning.

The encounter comes a day after Kiran Pal, 28-year-old constable in the Delhi Police, was stabbed to death by three people on Saturday while on night patrolling duty in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area.

Two of the three accused, Deepak Max (21) and Krish Gupta (18), were arrested later that day.

According to a senior official of the Delhi Police's Special Cell, the third and the main accused in the murder of constable Kiranpal lost his life in an armed encounter with a joint team of local police and special cell.

A senior police officer of special cell said that the third accused, Raghav, who stabbed Pal with a knife was hiding in Sangam Vihar.

"Late evening on Saturday, information was received regarding the whereabouts of the prime suspect, identified as Raghav alias Rocky, a resident of D-Block, Sangam Vihar.

A joint team from the Special Cell (New Delhi Range) and Narcotics Cell, South East District, which had been working together since the incident, went to the area connecting Sangam Vihar to Surajkund Road to verify the information," the officer said.

He added that the accused was identified close to midnight. However, when the police asked him to surrender, the accused opened fire at the police personnel who retaliated in self-defence and injured the accused.

"Not heeding to the calls made by the police, the suspect, in a premeditated manner, opened fire from a close distance at the police party using a firearm that he was carrying. The police team retaliated in self-defence, which led to the suspect being injured by gunshot wounds," another official said.

The suspect was immediately rushed to ESIC Hospital, Okhla, where he passed away due to the injuries suffered in police action. A pistol with two cartridges has been seized, the police officer said, adding no police official was injured in the encounter. "All protocols as laid down by law for instances of death in police action are being followed," the official said.

Constable Kiran Pal, posted at Govindpuri Police Station, was on night patrolling duty when he stopped three people riding a two-wheeler in the early hours of Saturday. "The accused threw stones at the constable to evade arrest but he managed to waylay them by putting his bike in front of their vehicle," the officer said.

"The constable also took away the keys of the two-wheeler and started questioning the trio during which the accused stabbed him," the officer added.

The constable is survived by his widowed mother and an elder brother, who is currently unemployed.