Shootout in Overseas Bank Robbery Case: Two Criminals Dead, Two Fleeing

Lucknow (The Uttam Hindu): Police have killed two suspects in an encounter related to the breaking of the Overseas Bank wall in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. One of the accused, Sobind Kumar (29), a criminal with a ₹25,000 reward on his head, was killed in Chinhat, Lucknow. The other, Sunny Dayal (28), was shot dead in the Gahmar area of Ghazipur district on Tuesday morning while attempting to flee to Bihar. The police recovered a 32-bore pistol, some items, and ₹35,500 from Sobind Kumar, who was killed in Chinhat.

Sunny Dayal, a resident of Munger, Bihar, was killed in an encounter with Ghazipur police while he was trying to escape to Bihar with a companion. When local police tried to stop them, both suspects attempted to run over the officers with their motorcycle and fled towards the Bihar border.

Gahmar outpost in-charge alerted the SWAT team, which reached the Bihar border. The suspects, attempting to evade capture, changed their route and headed toward an old, abandoned dhaba in Qutubpur. As the police surrounded them, the criminals opened fire. In the ensuing exchange, Sunny Dayal was injured, while his accomplice managed to escape. The injured criminal was admitted to the Bhadaura CHC but was later referred to the district hospital in Ghazipur, where he was declared dead.

Regarding the encounter in Lucknow, DCP East Shashank Singh explained, "On Monday night, while conducting a joint operation with the crime team and the police station area team, the police noticed a suspicious vehicle approaching at high speed. When the police tried to stop it, the vehicle swerved toward the officers, and one of the occupants fired on the police. In retaliation, one person was injured. The injured individual has been identified as Sobind Kumar, from whose pocket a diary was recovered. The other person fled, leaving the vehicle behind. Sobind was taken to CHC Chinhat and later referred to RML Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment, and further action is underway."

So far, seven criminals have been linked to the incident. Three have been arrested: Arvind Kumar, Balram Kumar, and Kailash Bind. Arvind was injured in the encounter, suffering a leg wound. The remaining four criminals are still at large, two of whom—Sobind Kumar and Sunny Dayal—were killed in the police encounter. Two others, Mithun Kumar and Vipin Kumar Verma, are still absconding, and the police are conducting raids to apprehend them.