2 criminals held in Ghaziabad

Two alleged criminals were arrested after separate exchanges of fire with police here, a senior official said on Saturday. During checking, police intercepted a pick-up van on Friday night and signaled the driver to stop. But instead one of the two men in the vehicle opened fire at policemen, prompting retaliation by the officials, SSP Sudhir Kumar Singh said.

In retaliatory firing, Aakil, a resident of Cholas village in Gautam Budh Nagar, sustained a bullet injury, the SSP said. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. Aakil, who was carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest, told police that he, along with his accomplice Kaloo, had stolen the pick-up van on July 6, Singh said.

In a similar incident, police arrested another wanted criminal on the intervening night of July 26 and 27, the SSP said. Sunny, who was involved in several cases of robbery, was held after a brief exchange of fire with policemen, Singh said, adding that he was also carrying a cash reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest.

One country-made pistol and three cartridges were seized from his possession, he said. "Till now 27 encounters have taken place in my tenure of 25 days. Twenty-six criminals were nabbed after gun fights and one was shot dead," Singh added.