LUCKNOW: The UP Police had killed notorious criminal Rashid in an encounter. Rashid is wanted in several cases including the murder of three relatives of cricketer Suresh Raina in 2020. The police had earlier announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 oh his head.

The police said Rashid was killed in a retaliatory firing after he along with another miscreant on a bike opened fire on the cops who had intercepted them following a tip-off that members of an inter-state gang were staying in the Shahpur police station area. The encounter happened on Saturday evening. Two guns were recovered from the spot. Bablu Singh, SHO of Shahpur got injured in the encounter. He was admitted to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery.

During the six years of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regime in UP, the police killed 178 listed criminals in encounters. Among these were criminals who had a bounty of Rs 75,000 to Rs 5 lakh announced on their heads. According to this, a criminal is killed in a police encounter in UP every 13 days.

Many criminals have surrendered before the police out of fear during the encounters that took place between March 20, 2017 and March 6, 2023. Police have arrested 23,069 criminals during this period. Of these, 4911 people were caught injured in the encounter.