Gangster, two aides shot dead

LUCKNOW - A gangster wanted in over 20 criminal cases including murder was Saturday gunned down along with two of his associates during a gang war in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district, police said.

Raju Kol, 38, who took charge of the gang operated by brigand Shiv Kumar Patel alias Dadua - the Veerappan of India’s north - and his associates were found dead in a forest area of Manikpur.

“Preliminary investigations indicate the three were killed in a fight for supremacy with their rival group,” Superintendent of Police Tehsildaar Singh told reporters in Chitrakoot, about 300 km from here.

Kol primarily operated in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. He carried a reward of Rs.50,000 for his capture. Over 20 cases of murder, extortion, loot, abduction and other heinous crimes were pending against him.