New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police shot dead four persons in an alleged “encounter” on the night between January 20 and 21 in Shamli district close to the state’s border with Haryana. One of those shot dead, Arshad, was out on bail since June 2024 while another, Manjit, had jumped parole recently. A police inspector who took part in the “operation” died on January 22, after succumbing to his injuries.
Here is a blow-by-blow account of the shooting, based on the police statement and FIR of the incident accessed by The Wire. While since 2017, killings of suspected criminals and accused persons in alleged “encounters” have become a usual affair, it is still fairly uncommon for four persons to be shot dead in one single incident.
‘Car did not stop’
The Special Task Force of the UP police said that on January 20, at around 11 pm, they intercepted a white car carrying a suspect Arshad, who had a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on him, and some of his associates, in the Jhinjhana area of Shamli. Sub-inspector Pramod Kumar of the field unit of the STF Meerut, who recorded this in an FIR, said that the police tried to gather public witnesses but since it was late in the night there was nobody around.
When the car, which was moving from Haryana, reached the Bidauli-Chausana crossing, where the police had set up a barricade, the police indicated it to stop through the light of a torch. However, the car did not stop and sped towards Chausana, said Kumar.
The police team chased after the vehicle and when it reached a kiln at a place called Udaipur, it came to a halt, said Kumar, adding that the police team got down from their cars and asked the suspects to surrender. The suspects suddenly started to fire at the police team with “the intent to kill,” alleged Kumar. “They ignored our warnings and opened the front and back doors on the right side of the car and started firing at us indiscriminately,” he said.
‘Fired at fleeing driver’
The driver of the car jumped out of the car and started running towards Chausana while firing at the police, alleged SI Kumar. Head Constables Ankit Kumar and Akash Deep chased after him.
Meanwhile, Kumar further said, the other policemen moved slowly towards the car, displaying “indomitable courage and bravery”, firing “controlled” shots and entered the “firing range” of the suspects with the intent of arresting them.
When the firing stopped, Kumar said the police team went close to the car and found three persons seriously injured. They were identified as Arshad, Manjeet alias Zubair alias Dhilla and the third’s identity was not known. The driver of the car, who had escaped, was found injured near a roadside. He was identified as Satish.
Police said they were taken to a hospital but died of their injuries. Inspector Sunil Kumar was seriously injured after being shot and taken to a hospital, said police.
Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said SI Kumar was hit by three-four bullets.
’30 minutes, six firearms’
According to SI Pramod Kumar of the STF, at least 10 policemen fired at the suspects during the operation that lasted 30 minutes. SI Sunil Kumar, fired from his AK-47 rifle; SI Pramod Kumar fired three shots with his pistol; SI Jaiveer Singh fired a single shot with his pistol; head constable Primat Singh fired two shots with his pistol while head constables Vivek, Joshi Rana, Vikash Dhama, Romish Tomar, Akash Deep and Ankit Kumar all fired single shots with their pistols.
The STF said it recovered two pistols (bore .32 and .30), one carbine (.30 bore) and three country-made pistols (315 bore) from the accused persons.
Arshad, a native of Saharanpur, was wanted by the police in a robbery committed in November 2024, following which a bounty of Rs 1 lakh was declared on him, said DGP Kumar. Arshad had been in jail since 2013 after being arrested for gang-related crimes and was released on bail in June, 2024, police said.
Manjit, a native of Haryana, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of his brother in 2021 and had recently been released on parole for 40 days. However, he did not return to jail, said the STF.
A known ‘associate’
On January 21 morning, an FIR was lodged against the four men, who were allegedly injured then, for attempt to murder and under Sections 3, 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, for allegedly firing at the police team during the “encounter.”
DGP Kumar said Arshad was an associate of Mukim alias Kala, an alleged gangster from western UP blamed by the Bharatiya Janata Party for its unfounded allegations of Hindu exodus in Kairana in 2016. On May 14, 2021, Mukim and another inmate Meraj Ahmad were allegedly shot dead by a fellow prisoner Anshu Dikshit inside the high-security Chitrakoot jail. Dikshit was later allegedly shot dead by the police. The families of the three men suspected foul-play and alleged that they were killed in a planned shootout as part of a conspiracy. They accused the state government and its officials of orchestrating the three killings to make it appear like a bloody rivalry between inmates.
As reported by The Wire, more than three years later, in August 2024, a judicial probe commission constituted to investigate the killings, supported the version put forward by the police. The commission headed by a retired Allahabad high court judge Shashi Kant concluded that the “shortcomings, lapses and failures” of the jail officials, civil police and personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary stationed at the prison in carrying out their duty with effectiveness and dedication was a “major contributing” factor behind the incident. The panel ruled out a larger conspiracy behind the incident and said that there was “no credible evidence” of a conspiracy or collusion between jail officials, the administrative officials, the police and politicians.
Police said Arshad faced 16 FIRs, including five charges of murder.