Cuttack: Sheikh Hyder, a dread gangster, was critically injured in a police encounter in Odisha’s Balasore on Saturday afternoon.
Talking to mediapersons, Commissioner of Police Soumendra Priyadarshi said the encounter took place while an escort party of the Cuttack Commissionerate Police, comprising one IIC, one Sub-Inspector, three Havildars and a section of armed police, was shifting Hyder from Choudwar Circle Jail to the sub-jail in Baripada.
Midway near Simulia at around 3.20 pm, he asked the cops to stop the vehicle for a while to attend to nature’s call.
“After getting down from the police van, he tried to snatch the gun from the sub-inspector and flee. To control the situation, the escort team opened fire on him. One bullet hit him in the stomach and another in the leg. He was then rushed to the district headquarters hospital in Balasore. His condition is stated to be critical,” Priyadarshi said.
It may be mentioned here that the dreaded gangster was arrested from Sangareddy district in Telangana on April 15 this year, five days after his escape from SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
After his arrest, he was sent to the Circle Jail at Choudwar.
The gangster was, however, found operating his gang from the jail. Following this, police decided to shift him to the sub-jail at Baripada for security reasons.