Police killed two criminals and arrested three others in two separate encounters in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
In Sahibabad, police busted an extortion racket and gunned down two criminals, one of whom was involved in the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Delhi and carried a bounty of Rs.1 lakh.
Based on specific information that some criminals were on their way to pick up extortion money from parents of a child, Ghaziabad police had put up check posts.
The criminals on a bike opened fire on the police team around 2 AM, in which a senior sub-inspector sustained a bullet injury while two criminals were gunned down in retaliatory fire.
The other police action took place in sector 58 of Noida in which a robbery was averted.
Noida Superintendent of Police (City) Arun Kumar said based on a tip-off that a gang of robbers was headed to the Fortis hospital to rob cash that was scheduled to move from the hospital, police teams intercepted four men on bikes just after midnight.
Asked to stop, the men opened fire. One criminal was injured in retaliatory firing. The remaining three tried to flee but two were nabbed.
The injured criminals were sent to a medical facility.