Henchman of underworld don Chhota Shakeel shot dead

New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) A henchman of underworld don Chhota Shakeel, was shot dead in a joint encounter by the Delhi police and the Hardwar police near Roorkee late last night, police today said.

Mohammad Tariq, a sharp shooter of the Chhota Shakeel gang, was shot dead in the joint encounter of special team of the Delhi police and the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Hardwar police.

Police said on a tip-off, a special team of Delhi police led by the ACP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav and the SOG team of Hardwar police, led by R B Chamola, surrounded Tariq on Roorkee Piran Kaliyar road while he was on his way to the city.

On being flagged down, Tariq opened fire at the police. The police retaliated and Tariq was killed on the spot, near the Solani bridge.

The police recovered a 9mm pistol of British made and a large amount of ammunition from the slain gangster.

Tariq had more than two dozen cases of heinous crimes registered against him in Delhi and Mumbai, including the killing of the Deepak Sharma, brother of Bajrang Dal activist Robin Sharma. He was also wanted in another case of contract killing of a bakery owner in Mumbai.

A close confidante of Chota Shakeel, he actively executed assignments assigned by Shakeel in different part of the country. He was also involved in smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives from Pakistan via Nepal.

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