Gangster Anil Dujana was killed in an encounter with UP Police in Meerut
The Uttar Pradesh police's special task force has shot dead another gangster in an encounter.
Anil Dujana, who was known to terrorise people in Noida, Ghaziabad and other areas in Delhi-National Capital Region, was killed in the encounter with the UP Police's special task force (STF) in Meerut.
He faced over 60 criminal cases.
Dujana was released from jail just a week ago after getting bail in a murder case. Immediately after that, he started threatening one of the key witnesses in the murder case filed against him, sources said.
Dujana had decided to kill the witness, they said.
The STF then moved in to arrest him. During the operation, Dujana and his gang engaged the police, leading to a gunfight and his death, sources said.
The encounter happened on an unpaved road, surrounded by tall bushes, in a village in Meerut. The police said he and his gang had been hiding there and opened fired at the STF operatives during approach. The police team returned fire immediately.
After Dujana threatened the witness, the police left nothing to chance as witnesses in key cases have been killed in recent times.
In February, the witness in the murder case of a Bahujan Samaj Party leader was shot dead by Asad Ahmed, the son of gangster Atiq Ahmed. Asad was killed in an encounter last month, and his father was also shot dead on camera near a hospital while talking to reporters in UP's Prayagraj.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said many times he intends to get rid of hardened criminals and gangsters from the state.
Since March 2017 when Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister, 183 gangsters have died in encounters, the UP Police said last month. Thirteen policemen were killed in action during the same period. Eight of them were ambushed in a narrow lane in Kanpur by the aides of gangster Vikas Dubey. The gangster was killed in an encounter subsequently.