Criminal injured in Kaushambi police encounter

Prayagraj: A criminal was injured and arrested in an exchange of fire with the police near Osa bridge canal road, under the limits of Manjhanpur police station of the neighbouring Kaushambi district, late on Monday night.
The injured criminal, identified as Pawan Kumar Saini alias Pawan Panda, a resident of Chogriyan Ka Purwa, was admitted to the district hospital of Kaushambi for treatment.
One country-made pistol of 0.315 bore, along with two live cartridges, a mobile phone and a bike was also siezed from the spot.
A joint police team of special operation group and Manjhanpur police had an encounter with a criminal who was involved in a rape of a minor girl in Manjhanpur village, on May 18.
Police said that the accused had on May 18 intercepted a class VIIth girl on the pretext of offering lift on his bike and later took her to an isolated place and allegedly raped her.
The father of the girl had lodged an FIR under appropriate sections with Manjhanpur police station on May 18 evening.
The police team with the help of CCTV footages and electronic surveillance managed to ascertain the identity of the accused.
On Monday night, police received a tip off that the accused was moving towards Osa village. The joint team intercepted his movement and asked to surrender. The accused opened fire on police party and the police team also retaliated and left the criminal injured with his right leg.
Police said that the accused with three criminal cases was already sent behind the bars in connection with a rape case. The SP (Kaushambi) has announced a Rs 15,000 cash reward for the police team.