'They began firing indiscriminately at cops': How UP police gunned down prime accused in Ghaziabad teen murder

GHAZIABAD: A 17-year-old murder accused carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 was killed in an encounter with police in Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony in the early hours of Sunday, officials said. The accused, identified as Asad, a resident of Khoda Colony, was wanted in connection with the stabbing death of a teenager earlier this week.

According to police, officers from Khoda and Indirapuram stations received specific input from an informer that Asad, the prime accused in the case, had been spotted on a motorcycle. The informer was tasked with keeping him under surveillance.

“Acting on the information, police stations- Khoda and Indirapuram Police deployed personnel for the apprehension and encirclement of the accused within the Indirapuram police station area. The informer subsequently reported that accused Asad was approaching along with another associate. Based on this information, police were conducting encirclement and checking operations at Vasundhara T-Point,” said DCP Trans-Hindon and City Dhawal Jaiswal.

“At that point, 2 suspects were spotted on a bike approaching from the direction of the Green Belt. They were signaled to stop using torchlight, however, the bike riders turned their motorcycle towards an open ground in Vasundhara Sector 1, and were chased by the police party. The criminals then opened direct fire on the police team with intent to kill. Even after skidding and falling due to the high speed of the motorcycle, the criminals took cover and began firing indiscriminately at the police team one after another using pistols in their hands. The police team also retaliated in self-defense, taking cover on the ground and behind their official vehicles,” Dhawal said.

“During the retaliatory action taken in self-defense by the police, 1 criminal was injured, who was identified as Asad, son of Nabav, resident of Madrase Wali Gali, Thana Khoda Commissionerate, Ghaziabad. He was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment, where injured criminal Asad succumbed to his injuries during the course of treatment. Constable Anurag Rawat sustained a bullet injury in the firing carried out by the criminals. The second accused managed to flee taking advantage of the darkness, and police are conducting combing operations to apprehend him,” the DCP added.

Police said Asad was wanted in the murder of a teenager, a resident of Navneet Vihar, who was stabbed on Thursday afternoon near Sharma Dairy in Khoda and died during treatment at a Noida hospital on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, police arrested three people in the case, including Asad’s father Nawab and his two associates.

According to the complaint filed by the victim's elder brother, the boy was with two friends when the accused confronted him, abused him and stabbed him repeatedly in the abdomen. One of the friends told police they were called near the accused's house on Bakrid and that several others were present there. The family alleged it was not a spontaneous quarrel but a planned attack.

According to a friend of the victim, they were invited to a neighbour's place on Bakrid, where the accused teenager asked the victim: "Tumne kabhi bakra halal hote dekha hai?" To that, the victim replied, "Nahi." The accused said, "Aao dikhate hain (Have you ever seen a goat being killed? Come, we will show you)." When the victim refused and got up to leave, the accused allegedly began abusing hurling expletives. During the alter the accused stabbed the victim in the stomach multiple times.