PATNA, July 29 -- A notorious criminal, Dabloo Yadav, who was in the wanted list of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP) police, was killed in an encounter in Hapur district of UP by a joint team of special task force and district police on Monday morning. The deceased was specially wanted in a sensational abduction and murder case of Sahebpur Kamal block chief of HAM party Rakesh Kumar Shah alias Bikas Kumar. Rakesh was abducted from Sandalpur village in the Sahebpur Kamal police station area of Begusarai and his body was recovered from the bank of Ganga in Munger district on May 29. Dabloo's wife Sita Devi is the Sarpanch of Sandalpur panchayat and she herself is in jail too. Police said that the reason behind Rakesh's abduction and killing was said to be political rivalry or personal enmity. The victim was a member of the 20-point programme committee of Sahebpur Kamal block while his mother Shakuntla Devi is a ward member of Sandalpur panchayat. Police said that Dabloo, carrying a reward of Rs.50,000 on his head, was killed in a shootout at the Simbhaoli police station area, after a gunfight during a joint operation to nab him in Hapur district of UP. He had been involved in 24 criminal cases in the past, including 2 cases of murder, 2 of robbery, 1 of dacoity, 6 of attempted murder, and 2 cases of extortion. In 2017, he was accused of gunning down one Mahendra Yadav, who had testified against him in a court case. "Joint police team intercepted Dabloo after the police received a tip-off about his movement from the Bihar police. Dabloo first opened fire at them, leading to a retaliatory firing in which he was shot dead. He was a native of Sahebpur Kamal and had been absconding for months in connection with the kidnapping and murder of HAM leader. A reward was declared for his arrest. He was a key suspect in several other heinous crimes across Bihar," said a senior official of the state police headquarters familiar with the matter. "Yadav was on the run for a long time. Acting on intelligence inputs, our team reached Uttar Pradesh and coordinated with Noida STF," he added. UP STF SP Sushil Ghule said, "On the night of 27-28 July, a gunfight broke out between a team of Noida STF, Bihar and Hapur Police with some criminals in the Simbhaoli police station area in Hapur." Additional Director General (ADG) of UP STF Amitabh Yash said that the gangster sustained a gunshot injury to his chest and was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to injuries. "A significant quantity of firearms, cartridges, and other items were seized from him," he added....