Thokia gang guns down six STF personnel

Setback came at a time when one of its teams was celebrating the killing of dreaded dacoit Dadua on Sunday

Six jawans of the UP’s Special Task Force (STF) and a police informer were killed and four jawans and another informer injured when dacoits belonging to the Thokia gang ambushed them, the night after the force gunned down dacoit Dadua and nine of his associates in an encounter.

The ambush took place in the Kolhua forest area under the Fatehganj police station of Banda district late on Sunday night. The bodies were brought to Kotwali in neighbouring Banda district. The injured jawans and the informer were undergoing treatment at Swarup Rani Hospital, Allahabad.

The setback for the STF came at a time when one of its teams was celebrating the killing of Dadua in the Manikpur area of Chitrakoot district.

It was around 9.30 pm on Sunday when a 10-member team of the STF was ambushed by the Thokia gang, which had taken shelter in the hills. The jawans had killed one member of the gang in the morning near Ansuiya and were on the lookout for others.

“They started firing indiscriminately at our vehicle, a Bolero. The first bullet hit the driver and the vehicle got trapped in a drain,” the police informer, who accompanied the jawans, told The Indian Express. According to him, the dacoits opened fire from three sides.

Another STF vehicle, a Tavera, was a few yards behind the ill-fated Bolero. “The gang also opened fire on that vehicle. The STF jawans in the Tavera, however, managed to get down and lobbed grenades at the dacoits. This forced the gang to flee.”

The Bolero was also carrying the body of Mayadeen, a member of the Thokia gang, who was killed in the encounter earlier.

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Sources said an injured STF constable managed to reach the Fatehganj police station and informed the district police about the incident.

The reason being attributed for this setback is a lack of co-ordination between the Banda district police and the STF. “The STF team had no knowledge about the topography of the area. Yet it ventured into the area and camped there in the night. In fact, the road on which they were trapped is a deadend. Thokia had the advantage of this knowledge. Thokia waited for their return and killed them,” a source in Banda police said. According to him, even Banda policemen never go in that direction after sunset.

The incident will certainly help Thokia inherit the legacy of Dadua. The Uttar Pradesh Police have already announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh on his head.

Meanwhile, state police chief Vikram Singh who reached the spot, refused to speak about the incident. “It is time to mourn. Meri pratikriya ke liye wait kijye (you will have to wait for my reaction),” Singh said while hinting at a major operation against Thokia.

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According to him, the Government announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to be paid to the next of kin of the slain STF team members.

The dead jawans have been identified as Ishwar Deo Singh (Gonda), Umashakar Yadav (Ghazipur), Laxman Prasad Sharma (Aligarh), Rajesh Chauhan (Mainpuri), Brijesh Yadav (Ambedkar Nagar) and Girish Chandra (Jyoiba Phule Nagar). The dead informer’s name is Ram Karan, a native of Gupta Godawari village.