Gangster, two accomplices killed in encounter with Punjab Police in Fatehgarh Sahib

An Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) team was following gangster Teja and the exchange of fire took place in the main market of Bassi Pathana. Two police personnel were injured in the gunfight, he said.

Chandigarh:A gangster and his two accomplices were killed in an encounter with the Punjab Police in a busy market area in Fatehgarh Sahib district on Wednesday, a senior official said.

He said an Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) team was following gangster Teja and the exchange of fire took place in the main market of Bassi Pathana. Two police personnel were injured in the gunfight, he said. AGTF chief Promod Ban told PTI that Teja opened fire when the police team tried to stop him. The police retaliated and Teja and his unidentified accomplice were killed during the exchange of fire. A third person, who was injured, later succumbed in a hospital, police said.

Teja was the leader of the gang that was involved in the killing of police constable Kuldeep Singh in Jalandhar last month. Singh was killed while chasing four robbers who had snatched a car at gunpoint in Phillaur on January 8. Teja, who had more than 35 criminal cases registered against him, was operating his gang in Nawanshahr and Garhshankar areas, police said. They said the gangster was spotted in Bassi Pathana by the AGTF team while acting on technical and human intelligence inputs. When the AGTF team tried to corner his SUV, he fired indiscriminately. The AGTF team also returned fire, police said. The area was cordoned off after the operation, they said. (PTI)