Two accused who were on the run in a chain kidnapping case from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh were shot dead in an alleged encounter during an operation by Etawah and Firozabad police in Shekhoabad on Friday.
The chase began in broad daylight from Shekohabad railway station in Firozabad district and ended in the agricultural fields of the village. Two policemen were injured in the shooting by the accused, who also allegedly kidnapped a child, according to officials.
The Etawah police reached Shekhoabad railway station on information that the accused were on their way to move to Jharkhand. The police chased the accused amid an exchange of gunfire.
Additional Director General (ADG), Agra District, SK Bhagat along with DIG Shailesh Pandey, Firozabad SSP and Etawah SSP reached the venue during the meeting, after which ADG Bhagat interacted with the media.
“The matter relates to a chain kidnapping committed in Etawah on July 3. The Etawah police had arrested one person and were tracking others when they got information through surveillance that the wanted persons were on a Jharkhand-bound train on Friday,” the officer said.
How did the chase start?
“The Special Operations Group and the surveillance team of the Etawah Police reached Shekohabad railway station in nearby Firozabad district while the train was crossing the station. When they found the police at the station, the accused got off the train and tried to escape, but the police confronted him.”
He added that the accused men found themselves surrounded but did not want to surrender, and even held a child hostage and asked the police to retreat.
They left the child, kidnapped a motorcycle and fled, while the Etawah police chased them.
A suspect riding a motorcycle was shot
While the back seat passenger continued to fire, two police officers were hit, one in the stomach and the other in the shoulder, the officer reported. They were taken to a local hospital, and the person who was shot in the stomach was referred to a higher medical center in Agra, Bhagat said.
During the chase, the two defendants left the motorcycle and entered an elementary school.
There, lessons were still going on. The officer said there was fear that they would take the students hostage, but the men chose to continue fleeing as they were located by policemen, who were outnumbered.
They eventually entered a farm where tall crops provided cover. There, policemen from Etawah shot one of the men, while policemen from Firozabad arrived at the scene and the second man was also shot.
Director General Bahjat praised the policemen who continued the pursuit “with exemplary courage, without worrying about the injury of their fellow policemen.”
Bhagat said that the accused are from Bhartana area of Etawah and have a criminal past. They have been identified as Sumit and Ankit, aged between 25 and 30, said Shekhar Sanjar, deputy SP of Shekhoabad constituency in Firozabad district.
