Gangster being taken to court shot dead after police vehicle gets stuck in traffic jam

Hailing from Muzaffarnagar, Tyagi was raised in Meerut and had around 60 cases against him in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Haridwar, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Dehradun, among other cities. He faced charges ranging from murder and attempted murder to extortion and dacoity, along with sections of the Arms Act and the Gangster Act, with his earliest case of kidnapping from 1985. At the time of the killing, he had been arrested in a forgery and fraud case.

“Tyagi refused to share the loot, and the duo harboured revenge and planned to kill him,” said Haridwar Rural SP Shekhar Chand Suyal.

Police claimed that, prima facie, they have not found any larger gang links. Meanwhile, the three officers who accompanied Tyagi were suspended from service for alleged negligence. According to sources, while the suspects shot Tyagi from close range, others in the vehicle were left unharmed.

“The police could not react as they had long-range guns, rendering them ineffective against a close target. The area was also crowded, and the officers could not fire back,” one source said. Police said both suspects are from Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar and had previously been jailed in a dacoity case in which Tyagi too was allegedly involved.

Yadav has at least two cases registered against him, including one with co-accused Ajay.

After their relationship soured, Yadav allegedly pursued Tyagi and conducted multiple recces, knowing that Tyagi would be produced in court on Wednesday. Police claimed to have recovered a country-made pistol and a .32 bore firearm with three live cartridges.

The killing came months after Tyagi’s family alleged that he was being framed and targeted “to save other individuals”. The allegations relate to a September case involving the theft of gold and silver worth Rs 4 lakh from an acquaintance’s car, in which Tyagi was allegedly arrested and later transferred in connection with another case.

In response, Tyagi’s family claimed the allegations were meant to frame him, saying he had “stole the entire loot and was going to hand it over to the ED”. They also alleged there was “a plan to kill Vinay while taking him to court” and claimed the “involvement of Uttarakhand Police”.