SSP Azamgarh, Ajay Kumar Shani had a close shave while his junior colleague ASP Rural Narendra Pratap suffered gunshot wounds in an encounter with dreaded dacoit Sagar alias Bhim in Azamgarh on Tuesday night. Bheem is wanted by the Delhi Police and carries a reward of Rs 1 lakh or his arrest.
The brigand also suffered four gunshot wounds in the encounter and was admitted to a local. Shahni was shot on his chest but his bullet proof vest saved the day for him. ASP Rural Narendra Pratap was however not that lucky and suffered firearm injuries on his left hand. In the exchange of fire, Bheem fired indiscriminately at the police team to escape but ran out of luck.
Ganag leader Bheem and aide Santosh Bharti were being escorted by cops to a court for the hearing of a loot case against them on Tuesday afternoon, when they wriggled free and escaped from Narauli village in Sidhari police station area.
Subsequently, the Azamgargh Police launched a manhunt in the evening.
“After a message was flashed in the wireless set late in the evening and a combing operation was launched assisted by a SWAT team which included ASP Rural Narendra Pratap. During the process, while two persons were stopped they fired at the police without provocation. The police had to retaliate and in the exchange while the ASP sffered gunshot wound on his hand, the brigand was shot on his legs and was arrested. A bullet hit me on the upper half of my bullet proof vest. However, one of his aides Santosh Bharti of Azamgarh managed to flee the scene. A 9mm pistol, three cartridges and a bike was recovered rom the scene, “ said SSP Ajay Kumar Sahni.
“The injured Additional SP has been admitted to a private hospital, where he is said to be out of danger while Bheem has been referred to Trauma Centre in Varanasi,” Sahni said.
During quizzing, Bheem told the police that after escaping he met an aide Rakesh Pasi of Azamgarh and got the handcuff cut. Pasi later provided him a pistol and a motorcycle to flee the district. By that time, the cops were tipped off about his movement and they barricaded all link roads leading to neighbouring districts and carried out checking.
A dreaded criminal, Bheem has nine cases of robbery and loot registered against his name. His escapades include a daring loot of Rs 18 lakh from Ram Bahadur at Azadnagar (New Delhi) on August 28, 2016. After failing to track him down, the Delhi Police subsequently announced a reward on him.