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Another gangster killedin encounter by UP police

ByS Raju, Meerut
May 05, 2023 12:23 AM IST

The encounter took place on the day of polling for the first phase of the urban local body elections in the state, where chief minister Yogi Adityanath has indicated a hardline policy against gangsters

Gangster Anil Dujana was killed on Thursday in a gunfight with the Special Task Force (STF), the Uttar Pradesh police said on Thursday, the latest in a series of controversial police encounters involving people with long rap sheets.

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The encounter took place on the day of polling for the first phase of the urban local body elections in the state, where chief minister Yogi Adityanath has indicated a hardline policy against gangsters. But many of these have played out in police encounters and involved demolition of what government calls illegal properties, sparking concerns about the possibility of extra-judicial killings and bypassing of due process.

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Among a spree of encounters were the four involving gangster Atiq Ahmed, whose son and multiple aides were killed in gunfights with police. Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three gunmen while in police custody, drawing questions on the government’s claims on law and order.

A senior police official in April said “as many as 183 criminals have been gunned down in police encounters in the state since March 20, 2017” – among these were high-profile cases such as that of Vikas Dubey. Opposition parties and human rights activists have questioned the genuineness of many of these incidents.

Dujana was active in the National Capital Region (NCR), especially in the Gautam Buddh Nagar area, and had been named in 65 criminal cases. The charges ranged from robbery and dacoity to murder, abduction and extortion.

He was out on bail when he was killed on Thursday.

Additional director general of UP STF Amitabh Yash said: “Anil Dujana, a wanted criminal, was surrounded by our team in a village in Meerut on Thursday afternoon. Dujana fired at our team to escape and was killed in retaliatory firing.”

The STF team that surrounded Dujana was led by additional superintendent of police (ASP) of UP STF Brijesh Singh.

Born Anil Nagar, Dujana took up the nom de guerre after his home village Dujana, which is in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.

ASP Singh said two pistols and a few bags were recovered from Dujana’s possession. A forensics team had been called to examine bags and the vehicle in which Dujana was travelling, Singh added.

“According to preliminary information, Anil Dujana was going to meet some of his gang members. The SUV he was travelling in collided with an electric pole after being surrounded by the STF team,” Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

He was recently released from prison on bail and was trying to build his gang again, the officer said, adding a case of extortion was also lodged against him at Dadri Police Station of Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Last month, gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad Ahmad and his accomplice were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police. A couple of days later, Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were gunned down in Prayagraj by three men while they were being escorted to a hospital by the police.

Speaking to HT, former Uttar Pradesh Police director general Vikram Singh described Dujana as one of the most dreaded criminals in Uttar Pradesh’s history.

“In 2002, when Dujana started committing crimes like murder and extortion, I remember I was the Meerut zone Inspector General at the time and the whole gang would go completely underground soon after committing these crimes. Dujana spread a reign of terror across western Uttar Pradesh and his main crime was extortion and contract killing. He carried a total bounty of 75,000 on his head- 50,000 from Gautam Budh Nagar and 25,000 from Ghaziabad,” said Singh.

The Dujana village had been infamous prior to Dujana emerging as a gangster, having been associated with Sundar Bhati, another criminal who was once Dujana’s partner but soon turned his archrival.

(With inputs from Ashni Dhaor in Noida)

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