Two suspected gangsters from Uttar Pradesh, involved in killing of two policemen on Wednesday night, were shot dead by the police in an encounter in Nalgonda district on Saturday morning. A constable was martyred in the encounter. Telangana Director General of Police Anurag Sharma said the incident took place at Janakipur village of Motkur village around 8 am after a dramatic chase. A police constable Nagaraju was also killed, and a circle inspector and sub-inspector were also injured in the encounter.
The police had been on the lookout for the two armed gangsters ever since the shootout at a bus stand at Suryapet town on Wednesday in which a constable and a home guard were killed and a circle inspector along with a constable was injured. The two armed gangsters clad in jeans and T-shirts were identified as Mohammed Aijazuddin and Zakir alias Aslam Khan from Uttar Pradesh. While there was speculation that the duo belonged to the banned organisation SIMI and could be among the five undertrials who had escaped from Khandva jail of Madhya Pradesh last year, Anurag Sharma and Telangana Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy said as per the information available they were gangsters and not terrorists.
Police sources said they were verifying the records to see whether they had any links with SIMI or were involved in looting a bank in Choppadandi town of Karimnagar district last year. Circle inspector Balanagi Reddy and probationary sub-inspector Siddaiah, who were injured in this morning's chase and encounter were admitted to Kamineni hospital in Hyderabad. Police recovered two pistols and a carbine, which the gangsters snatched from the police during Suryapet incident.
Dramatic developments started unfolding in the wee hours of Wednesday when police rushed to Sitarampuram Dargah on a tip-off about the presence of two suspects. As the police neared the place they started firing at the police forcing the cops to retaliate.
The gangsters again managed to flee on a motorcycle, snatched from a villager in Arvapally, and tried to escape towards Aravapally hills. Meanwhile, an alert was sounded and local police, anti-terrorist commandos and elite greyhound forces were pressed in to cordon and search operation and all the possible exit routes were sealed.
They were able to surround the armed desperadoes at Janakapally where a fierce encounter took place. Constable Nagaraju, who was driving the police jeep, was shot from point blank range. He was killed on the spot. In the retaliatory fire, both the gangsters were killed. A village farmer Sammaiah, who was eyewitness to the chase and firing said, “One of the accussed was carrying a pistol wrapped in a towel in his hand,” he said.
He reported of hearing 10 to 15 round of fire and a deafening sound. Director General of Police, Anurag Sharma, visited the scene of encounter and spoke to the police officials involved in the operation. later, he met the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and briefed him about the successful operation. "Gangsters were from Uttar Pradesh and they were involved in shootout at Suryapet," DGP Sharma said.
Praising the bravery of the police, the Chief Minister said the policemen made a great sacrifice by laying down their lives in the line of duty. "The Government will take care of their families," he said. The Government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs40 lakh to the family of martyred constable Nagaraju. Nagaraju was married nine months ago. Meanwhile, the investigation into the activities of the two armed gangsters has taken a new turn with the recovery of a train ticket from the scene of encounter.
The recovery of the ticket, dated April 2, 2015 for a journey from Delhi to Hyderabad has forced the investigators to explore the possibility of a third person. Since the police was chasing the duo from the night of April 1, they wondered who travelled on the ticket to Hyderabad from New Delhi and where was the person now. Police have sought the help of the railway authorities to get the details of the traveller. "We are trying to find out whether a third person joined the gang over the last two days. If that is the case where was he hiding nowIJ," a senior police official said. The possibility of the presence of a third person has left the police worried about the activities of the gang. The police is also working on the possibility that the gang had taken shelter at some secure place in the State.