MEERUT, Feb. 26 -- The Uttar Pradesh Police's special task force (STF) units from Meerut and Noida shot dead Jitu alias Jitendra, 42, a sharpshooter linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, during an encounter in the Mundali police station area of Meerut on Wednesday. Jeetu, a resident of Sivan village in Haryana's Jhajjar district, was wanted in multiple cases across states, with a bounty of Rs.1 lakh on his head.

Additional director general of UP STF, Amitabh Yash, said that a joint team from Noida and Meerut STF tracked Jeetu to the Mundali area early Wednesday morning. "As the team surrounded him, an exchange of gunfire took place," he said.

"Jeetu was shot in STF's retaliatory firing and collapsed, while his accomplices escaped in the ...