LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday gunned down Chambal's dreaded outlaw Pahelwan alias Saleem Gujjar -- carrying a bounty of Rs.1.5 lakh on his head -- and his paramour Gita Jatav in an encounter in Kaitholi ravines of Ayana area in Auraiyya district.

Gita also carried a reward of Rs.10,000 on her head, U.P. Secretary Home S K Agarwal and DGP Bua Singh told a joint Press conference in Lucknow this evening.

Saleem had over 100 cases of murder, loot, dacoity, rape and kidnapping registered against him.

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh had announced rewards of Rs.1 lakh and Rs.50,000 on his head respectively, Mr Agarwal informed.

His reign of terror stretched from U.P. and Madhya Pradesh to the border areas of Delhi and Rajasthan.

The DGP said on a tip-off, a team of 10 U.P. policemen led by DIG (Kanpur) Daljit Chaudhary combed the area and gunned down Saleem and Gita. However, other gang members managed to escape.

A light machine gun (LMG), a .315 bore rifle, a double barrel gun and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from the spot.

Combing operations were continuing to nail other bandits.

The State Government is now planning to turn the heat on another notorious outlaw Dadua, who has been evading arrest for the last over two decades.

A native of Jaluan district in U.P., Saleem first joined Nirbhay Gujjar's gang in 1997 after murdering four members of a family in his Billaur Rampura village.

Later, he switched over to Ranbir Singh's gang and eventually formed his own syndicate.

Nirbhay and another dreaded outlaw Kalua have already been eliminated by the U.P. Police in separate encounters under the anti-dacoity operation.- UNI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail