Murder accused, sub-inspector injured in encounter in UP

A man, involved in the murder of a Uttar Pradesh minister's relative, and a sub-inspector were injured in an encounter near Akbarpur here early today, police said.

Radha Charan, who hails from Gohari village here and at present lives in Haryana's Palwal, was avoiding arrest in connection with the murder case, SP City Aditya Kumar Shukla said.

He is allegedly involved in the killing of former village head of Gohari Sarman Chaudhary, a relative of Minister for Minorities Welfare, Culture and Haj Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary. The former village head was shot dead on January 14.

Acting on a tip-off, a SWAT team tried to nab Charan near Akbarpur, but fired at the police, resulting in injury toSub Inspector Rohit Kumar, Shukla said.

Charan got injured in a retaliatory firing by police, he said.

Both the injured police officer and the accused have been hospitalised, the SP said.

One motorcycle, one pistol and cartridges were recovered from the possession of accused, he said.

The police have so far arrested six accused in this case and only Charan's son Dharmveer is still absconding, the SP added.