STF killed one accused | Sultanpur robbery case: Another accused arrested after encounter

With Friday’s arrest of Ajay Yadav, alias DM, a total of nine people have been arrested in the case. He was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head. Ajay has six criminal cases against him, five of which are registered in Sultanpur, the police said.

While the prime accused and alleged main conspirator, Vipin Singh, had surrendered in a court a day after the robbery, other suspects were arrested thereafter, some of them after alleged exchanges of fire.

Four other accused, each with a reward of Rs 1 lakh on their heads, still remain at large as the police conduct raids to trace them, said Sultanpur Superintendent of Police Somen Barma.

Acting on a tip-off, a team set up a checkpoint after learning that Ajay and one of his associates were travelling to Ambedkarnagar on a motorcycle, the STF said. When signalled to stop, they opened fire, prompting the STF personnel to retaliate, officials claimed. Ajay suffered a bullet injury on his leg and fell on the ground, while his associate escaped, they said. No policeman was injured in the firing.

The police claimed to have recovered Rs 3,700 in cash, two country-made weapons, cartridges, and a motorcycle from Ajay’s possession.
On August 28, five men robbed the jewellery shop at gunpoint in a densely populated area of Sultanpur.

Mangesh Yadav was killed on September 5 after the police received a tip-off that he was traveling from Sultanpur to Jaunpur on a motorcycle with an associate. When the police spotted the motorcycle, the suspects fired bullets at them, it was claimed, adding that Mangesh was killed in the exchange of fire while his associate escaped.

No police personnel were injured.

Mangesh’s death had ignited a political controversy, with Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav alleging that the encounter was “staged” and that Mangesh was killed “because of his caste”.