Buffalo thief injured in encounter, two held

Kanpur: A joint police team of Kotwali Dehat and SOG had an encounter with a gang of buffalo thieves during patrolling in Banda in which one accused was shot in the leg and two others were arrested.Police said they received information from an informer that some thieves were taking buffaloes to sell from the direction of Chahitara village. Acting on the information, the police team cordoned off the area.During checking, the accused fled with their pickup loader . When the police team gave chase, their vehicle went out of control and hit a wall. When the police attempted to apprehend them, the accused opened fire.In retaliatory firing by the police in self-defence, one accused, Firoz Khan alias Anis, was shot in the leg and was injured.The arrested accused were identified as Firoz Khan alias Anis, Chandan son of Ramdeen, and Pankaj Singh, son of Ramchandra. All of them were residents of Fatehpur district.Police said the accused had stolen a total of 10 buffaloes, heifers and young bulls. Of these, three were recovered , while the remaining seven were slaughtered in Unnao. tnn