Criminal Killed In Police Firing While Trying To Escape Custody In UP

A criminal was killed in an encounter when he tried to flee from police custody while being taken to a court here on Tuesday, an official said.

Sahwaz (35) had killed one Alok Kumar Gupta (36) and injured his family members, including two women and three children, on Monday when he entered his house in Katra area with the intention of committing a robbery, he said.

Arrested earlier in the day, the accused was being taken to a local court when he tried to flee, Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena said.

Some cattle suddenly came in front of the police vehicle near Batlaiya village and the driver lost control resulting in a crash. Taking advantage of the situation, Sahwaz snatched the pistol of sub-inspector Hitesh Tomar and tried to flee.

He fired at the police team and in retaliatory fire, he was killed on the spot, the SP said. The police team has been given a reward of Rs 75,000, he said.

According to police, Sahwaz had attacked Alok Kumar Gupta's wife Khushbu, father Sudhir Gupta, brother Prashant Gupta and his wife Ruchi Gupta and their three children with a sharp-edged weapon.

All of them are undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Bareilly.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)