Two dreaded criminals, Dinesh Tiwari alias Pappu ‘Shooter’ and Guddu Singh, were shot dead in two separate encounters late on Saturday. Guddu Singh was considered to be the right-hand man of Bihar strongman Siwan MP Shahabuddin.While the Special Task Force gunned down Pappu ‘Shooter’ in Gomti Nagar around 10.30 pm, Lucknow SSP Navniet Sekera’s team killed Guddu Singh near IIM, Lucknow, around 11 pm.Sekera said, ‘‘We got a tip-off from SSP Gorakhpur in the morning that Guddu Singh was planning to abduct Lucknow’s prominent builder Gaurav Bhatia from his house in Patrakarpuram, Gomtinagar. He was wanted in 27 cases in Gorakhpur and eight cases in Bihar.’’Guddu Singh was the main accused in the abduction of PALCO company official Avnish Gupta from Bihar last year. ‘‘We were keeping a close watch on four persons. When we stopped them near IIM, Lucknow, they started firing. Guddu Singh died in retaliatory fire, while the other three escaped,’’ Sekera said.Pappu ‘Shooter’, on the other hand, was wanted in more than 25 cases of murder, kidnapping and loot. He was the prime accused in the abduction of a Kanpur businessman, Ravindra Kedia, from Unnao. Kedia was released four days later on payment of Rs 18 lakh as ransom.
