Police kill criminal in Lucknow

Lucknow, Sep 1: A criminal involved in the 2013 killing of BSP leader Shyam Narayan Pandey was shot dead by police in the Uttar Pradesh capital on Friday, police said.

A member of the Salim-Sohrab gang, Sunil Sharma had escaped from police custody in July during a court appearance.

Some time back, Sharma, who carried a reward of Rs 15,000 on his head, telephone a Lucknow trader to extort money.

As the police approached Munshipuliya area on Friday morning, Sharma tried to escape on a motorcycle but was chased and shot dead near the Gosainganj stadium.

Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar said Sharma was asked to surrender but he opened fire at the police and was killed in retaliatory fire. His accomplice escaped.

Sharma was a resident of Siwan in Bihar.