2 criminals shot dead in encounter in Moradabad

Bareilly: In a joint operation, the Meerut unit of Special Task Force (STF) and Moradabad police shot dead two wanted criminals, Mohd Asif alias Tidda (32) and his aide Deenu (30), in an encounter in Bhojpur area of Moradabad on Monday night, said police. Bullets fired by the two criminals also hit Moradabad SSP Satpal Antil and SP (STF) Brijesh Kumar Singh, but they escaped unhurt as they were wearing bulletproof vests.Brijesh Kumar Singh told TOI, "Asif and Deenu were residents of Meerut and carried rewards of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively. Asif faced over 65 criminal cases, including extortion, robbery and murder, across western UP." "We received a tip-off about their movement in Moradabad and that they were heading towards Meerut. A team of STF alerted Moradabad SSP Satpal Antil, who reached the Goat Railway Underpass along with the Bhojpur police. Three teams were deployed to intercept the criminals," Singh said.Around 8:18 pm, the cops signalled the car in which the criminals were traveling to stop, but they tried to escape through an unpaved road and their vehicle got stuck. "As the police team approached the car, the criminals opened fire. Despite repeated warnings to surrender, they continued to fire at the cops. In retaliatory firing, both the criminals sustained bullet injuries," Singh said.Asif had recently demanded Rs 1 crore from a property dealer in Moradabad. Police have recovered three pistols and cartridges from the encounter spot.