The Saharanpur district police claimed to have gunned down the most dreaded criminal Rahul Khatta along with his accomplice Bante Balmiki, who carried a reward of Rs2 lakh and Rs12,000 respectively, in an encounter on Friday. The two were shot dead in an encounter in Algauwa village under Rampur Maniharan police station of Saharanpur. Police recovered nine automatic weapons, live cartridges and a car from their possession.
The Saharanpur range DIG Dr Ashok Raghav said that Rahul Khatta, who carried a reward of Rs2 lakh on his head, was in the village to extort money from a brick kiln owner. Helped by the victim’s tip-off, the police cordoned Khatta from all sides. When the police asked him to surrender, the notorious criminal opened fire at the police team. The police also retaliated and after an exchange of firing, Khatta and his accomplice were found wounded and rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared them dead. His accomplice was identified as Bante Balmiki who was also a wanted criminal and carried a reward of Rs12, 000 over his head.
On conducting search in his i20 car, the police found a big haul of weapons, some of which were looted from the police. The police recovered a self-loading rifle (SlR), a 9 mm carbine, two .315 bore rifles and two pistols. The total nine fire arms were recovered along with a big stock of used and live cartridges. A resident of Baghpat, Rahul Khatta looted self-loading rifle from the police in Charthawal in Muzaffarnagar which police recovered after Friday’s encounter.