Bhubaneswar/Balasore:
Notorious gangster Sheikh Hyder was killed in an encounter on Saturday in Odisha’s Balasore district as he allegedly tried to escape from custody during transit between two jails, police said.
The incident took place near Simulia when Hyder allegedly tried to escape after snatching a service gun from a policeman, they claimed.
The vehicle was stopped as the gangster, 62, wanted to attend nature’s call while being transferred from Choudwar jail in Cuttack to Baripada jail in Mayurbhanj district, police said.
“Our personnel opened fire at Hyder in self defence as he snatched the service gun and attempted to escape,” Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Soumendra Priyadarshi said.
“As the request to surrender failed to yield any result, the escort team members opened fire in a guarded manner. The basic objective of firing was to prevent him from escaping,” he said.
He was immediately rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Balasore where doctors declared him dead, police said.
“Hyder was brought to the casualty wing of the hospital in a critical condition. He died within four-five minutes of arrival,” Additional District Medical Officer Mrutyunjay Mishra said.
He was hit by at least two bullets — one in the stomach and another in one of the legs, police sources said.
The post-mortem, likely to be done on Sunday, will confirm the number of bullets he was hit by, Mishra said.
Hyder had at least 16 serious cases against him, including murder, attempt to murder, extortion and bank robbery. His network was spread across Odisha, police said.
Hyder managed to escape on April 10 from the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack where he was undergoing treatment. He was arrested six days later from Telangana.
He was then lodged at the Choudwar jail but was being shifted to Baripada jail after it was found that Hyder was operating from there, police said.
He was serving a sentence of life imprisonment after his conviction in a murder case, as per police records.
Hyder’s wife Hasina Begum alleged that her husband was killed by the police.
“The police had not given us any information regarding his transit. We were informed about his death. I demand justice,” she said, demanding a probe into the death of her husband.
Meanwhile, police made elaborate security arrangements in specific areas of Kendrapara town where Hyder had a “support base”, officials said.
“Since he was leading a gang, the security arrangement was made to ensure that his gang members do not take to violence,” a senior official said.
