Varanasi: An occultist from Aligarh, Imtiyaz Khan (48), who was on the run after robbing a woman of jewelleries was held in an encounter with the police in Azamgarh district late on Monday.Azamgarh ASP (rural) Chirag Jain on Tuesday said that on May 9, Imtiyaz misled a woman, Chanda Devi, of Rajapur after making her believing that her husband was ‘possessed’ and on the pretext of treating him, the accused duped her of gold jewellery, a mobile phone and Rs 1 lakh cash. The accused was on the run ever since.After lodging an FIR, Saraimir police launched a manhunt and on getting inputs regarding his movement, the cops cordoned off Kharewa area late on Monday. Seeing police, Imtiyaz turned his motorcycle in a bid to escape. However, his bike slipped and he opened fire at the cops while his accomplice fled the scene. In retaliatory firing by police, he suffered bullet injury in leg and caught. Police rushed him to hospital after recovering a motorcycle, two mobile phones, jewellery, Rs 11,100,cash, a country-made pistol and cartridges from him.During interrogation, it came to light that Imtiyaz led an inter-district gang that defrauded women of jewellery and cash by instilling fear of ghosts and black magic. The gang was active in Azamgarh, Bareilly, Bulandshahr and Muzaffarnagar, with cases registered against him in all these districts.Divulging his modus operandi, Imtiyaz said he and his brother used to target middle-aged women in markets to dupe them in the name of purification. They would ask the victims to walk 51 steps without looking back, before decamping with their valuables.
