LUCKNOW: A dreaded criminal carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Ambedkar Nagar district on Tuesday morning. The deceased has been identified as Asif alias Vicky Chhaimar, son of Babu alias Mazhar, a resident of Makanpur village under Billhaur police station in Kanpur Nagar.According to the STF, the encounter took place on July 7 within the jurisdiction of Biwana police station when the Noida unit of the UP STF intercepted the gangster. During the exchange of fire, Asif sustained bullet injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed during treatment.Police recovered a .32 bore pistol, a 12-bore country-made firearm (Pauniya), a large quantity of live cartridges, and a motorcycle from the spot.STF officials said Asif was one of the state’s most wanted criminals and had been absconding in several sensational cases of dacoity coupled with murder. A reward of Rs 1 lakh had been announced for his arrest.Investigators said Asif led a gang that specialised in house-invasion dacoities, in which members allegedly held entire families hostage before looting cash and valuables. According to police, the gang often murdered or brutally attacked victims who resisted. More than 21 criminal cases, including dacoity, murder, attempted murder and other serious offences, are registered against him in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.Among the most high-profile cases linked to Asif is the 2014 Shahganj dacoity-cum-double murder case in Jaunpur, in which the gang allegedly entered a house, held the family captive, looted cash and jewellery worth lakhs of rupees, and attacked five family members with sharp-edged weapons. Two women, identified as Swati and Suman, later succumbed to their injuries. Asif had been absconding in the case for over a decade.He was also wanted in the October 19, 2013 Sultanpur dacoity-cum-murder case, where he and nearly ten associates allegedly stormed a house, committed dacoity and murdered occupants.In another major case dated August 15, 2015, Asif and his associates allegedly carried out a dacoity in Kokhraj, Kaushambi, during which the parents of complainant Avani Kumar Tagore were allegedly murdered.Police further said that on August 19, 2015, Asif allegedly led a gang of around ten men in a series of dacoities in Chhapar, Muzaffarnagar. The gang allegedly held residents hostage at the house of Mahavir Singh, grievously injured his daughter-in-law with sharp-edged weapons, and later targeted five other houses on the same night.Apart from the dacoity cases, Asif was also accused in a 2021 murder case registered at Rasulabad police station in Kanpur Dehat, in which he allegedly murdered a man identified as Taseem, husband of Reshma.The STF said Asif had remained a wanted accused in the 2013 Sultanpur dacoity-cum-murder case, the 2014 Jaunpur double murder during dacoity, and the 2015 Muzaffarnagar serial dacoity case. His death is expected to bring closure to several long-pending investigations involving violent organised crime across multiple districts.
