A wanted criminal and prime accused in the daylight robbery at a jewellery shop in Sultanpur district was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.

Mangesh Yadav, who carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh, sustained serious injuries during the encounter and was admitted to the community health centre in Bhadhaiya where he succumbed to his injuries.

The police recovered a 32-bore pistol, cartridges, 315-bore pistol, a motorcycle and looted jewellery from the spot.

Mangesh, a native of Jaunpur, had several criminal cases registered against him.

The encounter, with the members of the gang which committed daylight robbery at Bharat Jewelers in Sultanpur town on August 28, took place in the Misirpur Puraina area of Kotwali Dehat, Sultanpur at around 3:25 am.

The operation was led by STF Deputy Superintendent of Police DK Shahi and Deputy Superintendent of Police Vimal Singh.

On August 28, five armed men had looted valuables worth over Rs 2 crore at gunpoint from a jewellery shop in broad daylight in Majorganj area in Sultanpur. The CCTV footage of the incident has surfaced online.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place at around 12 noon when five men, who came on two motorcycles, entered the showroom of jeweller Bharatji Soni. Three of them wore helmets and two had their faces covered with scarves. The police and UP STF were investigating the case. Mangesh Yadav was also involved in this robbery.

Earlier, the police had arrested three other criminals after an encounter.

On Thursday, the police received information about the location of three criminals from an informer. The police surrounded the area, leading to the shootout. During the exchange of fire, the police shot the three criminals in the legs. All three were arrested and admitted to the hospital.

According to the police, five criminals were involved in the robbery. Three of them have been arrested, one has been killed by the STF, and another is still being searched for.

Earlier, ADG Lucknow Zone announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh each on 11 dacoits involved in the jewellery robbery case. In an encounter near Godwa Inter College adjacent to the city on Tuesday morning, the police had arrested Sachin Singh and Pushpendra Singh, residents of Shahari Bhimi village of Peeparpur in Amethi, and Tribhuvan Kori alias Lala, a resident of Peeparpur village. They were involved in the bullion robbery case. These criminals had disclosed the names of 12 criminals of Amethi, Azamgarh, Rae Bareli, Jaunpur and Pratapgarh who were involved in the robbery. The gang leader, Vipin Singh of Bhawani Nagar police station Mohanganj in Amethi, is in jail after surrendering in Rae Bareli court on August 28.

Superintendent of Police Somen Burma said that seven teams were deployed to nab the criminals and recover the jewellery. Police are looking for these criminals.

The rewards were announced on  Furkan alias Gujjar, Anuj Pratap Singh, Arbaaz, Vinay Shukla, all of Ashapuri police station Mohanganj district Amethi,  Mangesh Yadav alias Kumbhe of Agaraura police station Buksa district Jaunpur, Ankit Yadav alias Shekhar, resident of Haripura police station Aspur Devsara district Pratapgarh, Ajay Yadav alias DM of Larpur police station Sigramau district Jaunpur, Arvind Yadav alias Fauji, of Chamradih police station Phulpur Azamgarh, Vivek Singh of Bhavani Nagar police station Mohanganj district Amethi, Durgesh Pratap Singh of Naya Purwa near Fire Station, Rae Bareli and an unknown criminal.