LUCKNOW: 50-year-old Anuj Kanaujia, a sharpshooter of the Mukhtar Ansari gang, was shot dead in a police encounter in Jamshedpur on Saturday night, the UPSTF said.
The operation, conducted by a joint team of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) Gorakhpur unit and Jharkhand Police, also left STF deputy superintendent of Police (DySP) DK Shahi injured.
Kanaujia, who was on the run for over five years, was wanted in 23 criminal cases, including murder, extortion, land grabbing, and arms smuggling. The UP DGP Prashant Kumar recently increased his bounty from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh for any information leading to his arrest in an effort to track him down.
“The operation was launched based on specific intelligence inputs regarding Kanaujia’s movement in Jamshedpur. As the police team attempted to apprehend him, Kanaujia opened fire, shooting nearly 20 rounds and even hurling a bomb in a bid to escape. This forced the security forces to retaliate, leading to a high-intensity gunfight. During the exchange of fire, DySP DK Shahi sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder but continued leading the operation. Eventually, Kanaujia was neutralised after sustaining multiple bullet injuries. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival,” said Additional DG, law and order, Amitabh Yash.
Following the encounter, police recovered two pistols, a large cache of live cartridges, and mobile phones from the site. The mobile phones are now being examined for possible leads on his criminal network, an officer privy to the probe said.
Kanaujia, a resident of Bahlolpur village in Chiraiyakot, Mau, had a long history of violent crimes and was one of the most feared operatives of the Mukhtar Ansari gang. His criminal record spanned multiple districts, with six cases registered against him in Mau’s Kotwali police station, five in Rani Ki Sarai, two in Dakshin Tola, and three in Chiraiyakot, apart from several others in Ghazipur and Azamgarh, the officer of STF added.
In recent years, police intensified efforts to crack down on Kanaujia and his associates. As part of the statewide anti-mafia drive, authorities demolished his house in Azamgarh using a bulldozer, while his family members were booked under the Gangster Act and sent to jail, the officer added.
