MEERUT/PATNA: Nilesh Rai, an alleged gangster from eastern Bihar was shot dead during the gunfight with a joint police team in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district late on Wednesday evening, people familiar with the matter said.
The operation to track down Nilesh Rai was conducted by a joint team of the special task force (STF) Noida, the Bihar Police STF and the Mizaffarnagar district police. A UP police officer said the gangster’s two associates, who were on the motorcycle with him when they were first intercepted at a checkpost, managed to escape.
Rai, who had a ₹200,000 reward on his arrest, has about 16 cases of murder, extortion, dacoity and attacks on police registered against him in Bihar and Jharkhand, said Bihar additional director general (operations) Amrit Raj.
The Bihar STF, which had been tracking the gangster, had been in Muzaffarnagar for about a week.
Kalyanpur chowki incharge Manvendra Singh Bhati said a checkpost was set up late on Wednesday evening following a tip received by the STF that Rai and his associates were going to commit a crime. The police flagged down the three suspects on a motorcycle but they fired at the police and fled on the Khatauli-Budhana Road.
During the chase, their bike slipped in the forested area of Inchora village. In the gunfight that followed, Rai sustained a bullet injury while his two associates escaped. He was taken to the ommunity health centre in Budhana where he was declared dead.
A 9mm pistol, two country-made pistols, 19 live cartridges and a motorcycle were seized from the spot.
Bihar’s ADG (headquarters) Jitendra Singh Gangwar said this was the second time that Rai and his associates fired at the police this year.
On February 24, a police team raided Rai’s hideout in Begusarai but they managed to flee after firing at the police personnel. Some bystanders were injured in this incident.
Rai, a resident of Begusari, came to the notice of the state police in 2006 when he allegedly started committing crimes.
