Gorakhpur, Jun 6: An alleged gangster involved in a BSP leader's murder over two years ago and operating from neighbouring Nepal was shot dead by UP STF sleuths on a visit here on Sunday, an official said.

STF's Gorakhpur unit DySP Dharmesh Kumar Shahi said sharpshooter Pervez Ahmed had escaped to Nepal after killing BSP leader Jugaram Mehndi and the police had declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his arrest.

A resident of Makhdoomnagar in Ambedkar Nagar district, Ahmed was killed in an encounter with the STF sleuths at Sarharai Road in the Pipiganj of Gorakhpur area where he was spotted on a motorcycle along with one of his associates, said Shahi.

The police team surrounded the two on Chiuntaha-Sarhari bridge and asked them to surrender, but he opened fire at the police team, he said, adding he was killed in retaliatory firing.

The police also found a country-made pistol on his person, the Dy SP said, adding that Ahmed was a “wanted criminal” in several murders in Makhdoomnagar. He was also a close aide of Ambedkar Nagar district's underworld don Khan Mubarak.

He operated from Nepal, smuggling fake currency notes in UP districts neighbouring Nepal and making extortions from businessmen in Gorakhpur and Ambedkar Nagar, the Dy SP said. He had come to Gorakhpur from Nepal to meet someone and the Pipiganj police surrounded him at Chiluatal area of Gorakhpur.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)