4 min readSultanpurSep 7, 2024 10:46 PM IST
First published on: Sep 7, 2024 at 03:38 AM IST
It was a plan worthy of a heist movie. First, a group of assailants watched a jewellery shop in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur for nearly a month. Then, on August 28, another group of five allegedly robbed the shop while a third kept watch outside, ready to provide backup if needed.
A week later, one of the suspects in the case was killed in an alleged encounter that has now sparked a political row in the state.
Early Thursday, 28-year-old Mangesh Yadav from Jaunpur was killed in an alleged encounter involving the UP Special Task Force in Misirpur Puraina village, some 10 km from Sultanpur. Mangesh was one of the five masked men involved in the armed robbery at Bh Ornaments, police claim. But, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the encounter was “staged” and that Mangesh was killed “because of his caste”.
According to police, Mangesh Yadav faced nine criminal cases, including charges under the draconian UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, and also carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head. Police also allegedly seized 4.95 kg of silver, two firearms, ammunition, and a motorcycle from his possession.
According to the account of the shooting given by the UP STF, they got a tip that Mangesh was riding to Jaunpur with an aide and intercepted them at a checkpoint near the Sultanpur bypass. The vike then allegedly sped towards Mishirpur Purena village, with riders firing at the police team, who retaliated. While Mangesh was fatally wounded in the firing, the aide, whose identity is still not known, escaped, police said.
Inside Bh Ornaments in the busy chowk area of Sultanpur, owner Bharatji Soni (67) sat cross-legged on a mattress on the floor of his now-closed shop while two policemen stood guard outside. “They (the assailants) were here for four minutes,” he said. Asked if he would recognise any of them, he said he couldn’t “as they had covered their faces with scarves and helmets”. The assailants, he said, took away gold and silver ornaments and Rs 3 lakh. Although he did not put a price on the stolen ornaments, police estimated them to cost over Rs 1 crore.
On their part, the UP Police, who have refused to comment on claims made by the SP chief, said 14 people were involved in the heist, all identified through “human intel and surveillance”.
Among those in custody is “key conspirator” Vipin Singh, who has 34 criminal cases against him, including charges under the Gangster Act.
Vipin Singh had allegedly surrendered in a case on August 29, a day after the heist. Three others — Pushpendra, Tribhuvan and Sachin Singh — were arrested on September 3, after an “encounter”, police said.
A police constable was injured in Thursday’s shootout, but is now “stable”, Sultanpur SP Somen Barma told The Indian Express, adding that nine persons were still on the run. But despite police’s claims, Mangesh’s family in Jaunpur claims that he was taken for questioning on Monday night with the promise to send him back but it never happened.
“On Thursday, police came to our house and said that Mangesh had died in an encounter. They asked us to collect his body from Sultanpur. We went there and brought his body,” his younger sister Princy Yadav told The Indian Express over the phone, adding that the local police had refused to register their complaint.
The jewellery shop in chowk area of Sultanpur. Express photo 
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