Suraj Pal's brother shot dead

LUCKNOW: Vinod Pal, a dreaded extortionist and brother of slain don Suraj Pal Yadav, was gunned down by the trans-Gomati police in an encounter on Saturday morning. He had a list of 22 criminal cases pending against him including that of murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion and was carrying a cash award of Rs 10,000 on his head. A countrymade pistol was recovered from the possession of the killed ganglord.His two associates, who were with him when the exchange of fire took place, fled the scene. Following specific information on the movement of Vinod Pal, a team headed by SP Trans-Gomati Satyendra Veer Singh and CO Gomtinagar DySP Rajeshwar Singh co-ordinated four cracks teams and conducted raids at a Satrik house in Bara Banki late on Friday evening where the criminals were said to be hiding. But by the time the police could reach the site, Vinod and his two aides had left the place. However police managed to collect clues which suggested that the three had left for the state capital on a motorcycle. Check points were made at the main Faizabad highway and other roads connecting Bara Banki with Lucknow. Extensive checking of public transport and private vehicles began and luck finally smiled at around 4:00 am when three youths were spotted on a motorcycle. However they apparently managed to see the police and tried to speed away. A hot pursuit led to an exchange of fire on Satrik Road, leaving one of the suspected miscreants riddled with bullet, while his two companions managed to escape. Vinod died before he could be shifted to hospital for medical aide. SP Trans-Gomati said that Vinod had unleashed terror and was deep into extortion from shop owners in Cantonment, Chinhat, Kaiserabgh, Gosainganj and Mohanlalganj areas. He said that a few years ago, Vinod gained notoriety when he reportedly extracted the eyes of an under trial who was on way to the prison after attending a hearing at the district court. He has in the recent past hurled bombs at a confectionery store in Cantonment police circle threatening the owner of dire consequences if he refused to meet his demands of extortion. CO Gomtinagar revealed that Vinod was regularly threatening brick kiln owners and businessmen demanding protection money from them. He said that Vinod was also into gang wars between two Chinhat groups which had witnessed nearly a dozen murders from two sides till date. IG AK Jain, DIG Range AKD Dwivedi and SSP Vijay Kumar announced rewards for the police team which gunned down Vinod.