Ayodhya, June 8 : A notorious and wanted criminal carrying a reward of Rs 1.90 lakh was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Ayodhya, officials said on Monday.

The criminal was identified as Bhanu Pratap Singh, alias Bablu, a resident of Vidhanapar village under the Belghat police station area in Gorakhpur district. According to officials, the STF cornered him near the Aimi Ghat bridge in the Maharajganj police station area of Ayodhya at around 11 p.m. on Sunday while he was attempting to flee on a motorcycle. During the operation, he allegedly opened fire on the STF team, prompting retaliatory action. He sustained critical injuries in the exchange of fire.

The STF said that after being injured in the encounter, Bhanu Pratap Singh was rushed to a hospital for treatment, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

According to officials, around 40 serious criminal cases had been registered against him across various districts of Uttar Pradesh. He had been absconding for a long time. Rewards had been announced for his arrest by several police units, including Rs one lakh by the Azamgarh police, Rs 50,000 by the Ambedkarnagar police, Rs 25,000 by the Gorakhpur police, and Rs 15,000 by the Basti police.

Earlier, in a joint operation, the police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Sitapur arrested two alleged thieves and recovered stolen property worth approximately Rs 77 lakh from their possession, including an Audi and a Ciaz car.

The accused were identified as Yogendra Chauhan and Dharmraj. Additional Superintendent of Police (South) Durgesh Kumar Singh said that Yogendra is a history-sheeter from the Sadarpur police station area and is also wanted in a case registered at the Mahmudabad police station. Several cases involving serious offences have previously been registered against him at different police stations in the district.

During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that 15-20 days ago they had broken into a house in Albada village and stolen jewellery. They also admitted to stealing Rs 15,000 in cash and a pair of anklets from a house in Manva village 10â??12 days earlier. The duo was reportedly on its way to Lucknow to sell the remaining jewellery when they were apprehended. Police said they used luxury vehicles to carry out the thefts.

/IANS