Overview
- Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force intercepted Bhanu Pratap Singh, alias Bablu, near Ami/Aimi Ghat in Ayodhya late on Sunday night and exchanged fire with him, police said.
- Singh was wounded in the encounter, taken first to a local community health centre and then to Ayodhya Medical College where he was declared dead while undergoing treatment.
- Officers recovered a carbine, a pistol and live and spent cartridges at the scene and have launched forensic processing to link the weapons to open cases.
- Police say Singh faced about 40–41 criminal cases across Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ambedkar Nagar and Basti and that multiple district units had placed rewards that totalled roughly ₹1.65–₹1.90 lakh in different reports.
- Authorities reported the accused’s motorcycle-borne accomplice escaped and remains the subject of an active manhunt as this action forms part of a wider, intensified 36-hour law‑enforcement crackdown across Uttar Pradesh.