Varanasi: A suspected gang of five robbers was arrested after a brief exchange of fire during a joint operation by the Jalalpur and Kerakat police near Parauganj in Jaunpur on Tuesday morning. One of the accused sustained a bullet injury to his leg in retaliatory police firing.Police recovered eight country-made pistols, a country-made revolver, cartridges, and two motorcycles from the gang.Jaunpur circle officer (Kerakat) Ajay Kumar Rai said Jalalpur police were on night patrol near Parauganj when they received information from the Kerakat police that five miscreants on two motorcycles had fled towards the area after being asked to stop. Acting swiftly, Jalalpur police cordoned off the area and attempted to intercept them.However, seeing themselves surrounded, the accused allegedly opened fire on the police with the intention of killing them, Rai said. In retaliatory firing by the police, one of the accused, Sonal Verma of Birampur, sustained a bullet injury to his leg.The other accused arrested were identified as Rajeshwar Pandey, Avneesh Gupta of Jaunpur, and Babi Kumar and Ranjeet Kumar of Jalandhar, Punjab.Police recovered eight country-made pistols, one country-made revolver, live cartridges, and two motorcycles from the accused. The injured Sonal Verma was admitted to a hospital for treatment.Police said Verma is already facing cases of robbery and has also been booked under the Gangsters Act.
