Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: The stillness of Prayagraj’s Friday night was shattered by gunfire as police teams engaged in two back-to-back encounters, taking down some of the city’s most notorious criminals.
By dawn, four men were in custody, two of them nursing bullet wounds in their legs. One of the injured, a hardened criminal with a ₹25,000 bounty on his head, had been evading law enforcement for months.
This wasn’t just another police chase; it was a carefully planned crackdown that sent an unmistakable message to the city’s underworld — “Your time is up.”
First Encounter: The Fall of a Wanted Man
The first showdown erupted near the new bypass route in Teliarganj, a stretch that has often been used by gangsters as a quick escape route out of the city. SHO Ashish Singh and his patrol unit spotted a lone biker moving suspiciously. When ordered to stop, the man did not hesitate — he opened fire at the police team.
Bullets tore through the night air, and the police responded swiftly. A shot rang out, hitting the suspect in the leg and dropping him to the ground.
Identified as Azad Ansari, a dreaded criminal from Baba Tola, Sahibganj (Jharkhand), the man had been dodging police nets across states. His rap sheet read like a handbook of organized crime — 13 cases of theft, robbery, and armed assault.
Azad was rushed to the hospital under heavy police guard, his arrest marking a significant breakthrough for Prayagraj Police.
Second Encounter: Motorcycle Gang Busted
Just as news of Azad’s capture began to circulate, another dramatic chase unfolded at the Yamuna Bridge in Naini. Acting on intelligence inputs, a joint team of the Naini Police Station and the Crime Branch intercepted two men speeding on a motorcycle.
The suspects chose to shoot their way out, sparking another round of gunfire.
Within minutes, one of them, later identified as Pramod Naini of Janki Bigha, Ara (Bihar), was brought down with a bullet wound to his leg.
His partner, Satyendra Kumar Singh alias Sadhu of Sasaram (Bihar), was pinned down and arrested without injury. Both men are suspected to be part of a larger interstate criminal network operating across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Weapons, Cash, and Evidence Seized
Police recovered a significant cache from the two encounters, including:
- A country-made pistol and ammunition,
- Three mobile phones containing leads on criminal networks,
- A motorcycle suspected of being stolen, and
- ₹86,640 in cash believed to be proceeds from recent robberies.
Officials confirmed that forensic teams are now analyzing the seized weapons and devices to piece together the gang’s full operations.
Encounters Mark a New Phase in Crackdown
Prayagraj Police have intensified operations over the past few weeks, targeting repeat offenders and wanted criminals. With over a dozen encounters in recent months, authorities are determined to dismantle organized crime networks.
A senior officer commented, “These operations are a message — law and order will prevail, and no criminal will be allowed to terrorize this city.”
“In a single night of gunfire and grit, Prayagraj Police flipped the script on its criminal underworld, reminding gangsters that the city belongs not to fear, but to justice.”
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