Suspected cattle thief shot dead

The climax to the shootout came after a 25 minute chase over an eight km stretch between K N Katju Marg and Lok Vihar in Peetampura in the dead of night in which one of the bullets fired by the police team of nine found Yakub's forehead.

Yakub, the alleged cattle thief who was in his twenties, died on the spot, while his other accomplices -- Sanwar (25), Khalid (22), Anwar (20) and Ankur (22) -- were injured and arrested.

A police driver had a miraculous escape when a bullet fired by the gang brushed past his shoulder. Police claimed it fired 27 rounds while the number of rounds fired by the gang is yet to be ascertained.

While Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) B S Jaiswal claimed that the criminals "fired like terrorists", Joint Commissioner (North) Tejinder Luthra said the shootout was so ferocious that "3-4 policemen would have died" in it.

Luthra refused to speculate on whether the "criminals" belonged to Mewat of Haryana but said their modus operandi resembled to the gangs from the region.

The run up to the shootout started with police receiving a call at around 2 am about theft of cattle in K N Katju Marg area and immediately teams, which were already on patrol, were alerted.

A police team led by Assistant Commissioner (K N Katju Marg) Ranjan Singh and they tried to stop the vehicle but the gang fled at "high speed and jumping traffic signals" as well as "firing at police and pelting stones at the chasing team".

Two other police teams led by Assistant Commissioner Jasmeet Singh and Sub Inspector Mukesh Anil joined the chase in separate vehicles.

"There was heavy firing from the gang. We also retaliated. We kept up with the hot chase despite heavy fire. The mini-truck was driven in a dangerously high speed and it broke several barricades too.

"Finally it was brought to halt near Lok Vihar after we managed to burst the tyres of the mini-truck. One of our drivers had a miraculous escape.

"The bullet pierced through the gypsy's window panes and brushed past his shoulder," Luthra said, adding four bullets hit two police vehicles.

On Janaury 15 night, four policemen were injured and two police vehicles damaged in outer Delhi when a group of criminals from Haryana's Mewat region opened fire and pelted stones at personnel who were chasing them. The gang was fleeing in a mini truck after stealing animals.

They opened fire at the police party in their attempt to dodge arrests. In retaliation, police personnel too fired at them, police said today. Nobody was injured in the firing incident but four policemen were injured in stone pelting.

Police could not arrest the criminals, who abandoned the mini-truck in Narela, but managed to rescue some of the stolen animals.