Police nabbed a notorious criminal after a brief encounter at Ramba in the wee hours of Friday. He was identified as Santosh Nayak of Khandi Deuli village.
Santosh suffered injuries on both his legs and was admitted to the Chhatrapur
Sub-Hospital in a critical condition.
Police sources said Santosh has as many as 16 cases pending against him in Khallikote, Rambha and other police stations in the district.
During the encounter, one of the associates of Santosh managed to flee from the spot. Police recovered a 9-mm pistol, two live bullets and a motorbike from his possession.
The encounter was carried out on the instructions of Ganjam SP Brijesh Kumar Ray in a joint operation between Brahmapur and Ganjam police.
The cops of the two police districts have so far carried out more than 41 encounters and arrested 44 hardened criminals, informed the Chhatrapur SDPO.