LUCKNOW, Feb. 4 -- Banarasi Yadav, the wanted contract killer and gang leader who was gunned down in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Varanasi late Tuesday night, had a long criminal history stretching back more than two decades, as per police records.

Yadav, a native of Ghazipur district, was carrying a reward of Rs.1 lakh on his arrest and was wanted in the sensational murder of Varanasi-based coloniser Mahendra Gautam in 2025. Investigators say Gautam was shot dead in Sarnath in an alleged contract killing that had triggered panic among local businessmen.

According to STF officials, Yadav had around two dozen serious criminal cases registered against him in Ghazipur, Varanasi, Sonbhadra and adjoining di...