Varanasi: A notorious criminal, Deepak Gaur (29), was arrested on Sunday following an encounter with police near Sarwa village under Kopaganj police station in Mau district in early hours of Sunday. Gaur, who had a bounty of Rs 25,000 on his head, was on the radar of police for his involvement in about 10 cases of loot, theft, and others in Mau, Azamgarh, and Ghazipur districts.
Mau ASP Mahesh Singh Atri said on a tip-off about the movement of criminals, a joint team of Kopaganj and Dakshin Tola police stations cordoned off Kopaganj to Bhatkol road and launched a massive checking drive after Saturday midnight. In the early hours of Sunday, they noticed a youth passing through the area on an unnumbered motorcycle. When the cops signalled him to stop, he accelerated the pace of the vehicle. When the cops tried to chase him, he attempted to escape by opening fire at the police team. The cops later succeeded in surrounding him near Sarwa village and warned him to surrender. However, when he continued firing, the cops started retaliatory firing, during which he was shot in the leg.
The cops nabbed him and recovered a country-made revolver, live cartridges, a motorcycle, a mobile phone, and cash over Rs 9000 cash from him. A forensic team also arrived at the scene to conduct an investigation. The accused was later admitted to the district hospital. ASP Atri said Gaur (29), a native of Azamgarh district, was also the main accused in a recent theft at a liquor store in Dadhi Mod area under Kopaganj police station jurisdiction.