The men were caught after they refused to stop at a police checkpost in Husseinganj. One of the gang members managed to escape.

According to the police, the deceased — Ghulam Ghaus Khan and Shakeel Ahmed of Kanpur and Shamshad of

Allahabad — were wanted in several criminal cases in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Around 3 am, a Maruti van with a blank registration number plate was found approaching the KKC Tiraha in Husseinganj. Though Station House Officer Baliram Saroj signaled the car to stop, it sped away. “We immediately flashed a message to the other stations about the vehicle,” Saroj said.

The officers chased the car for about 15 kms before teams from Husseinganj, Ashiana, Banthra, Manak Nagar and Sarojini Nagar police stations managed to encircle it.

“Stuck between the police teams and the barricade at the TP Nagar chauraha, the criminals moved towards an under-construction road at Shaheed Path,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Akhil Kumar. When the car reached a dead end, the miscreants tried to flee. The

police then tried to stop them and engaged in an exchange of fire.

“Three countrymade pistols and several cartridges were recovered from their possession,” said Sarojini Nagar Circle Officer Rajesh Kumar.

Soon after Kumar spoke to the media about the encounter, Shama Parveen, a woman who identified herself as Shakeel Ahmed’s wife, said her husband and brother-in-law Ghulam Ghaus Khan were arrested on Saturday before being killed in cold blood by the police.

“My husband and his brother had come to the court in connection to a case when they were arrested,” said Parveen, who lives in Barabanki. While Ahmed had come from Barabanki to attend the hearing, his brother came from Kanpur.

Parveen said Ahmed had called her from Lucknow to inform that the case would come up for hearing after 2 pm on Saturday.

“When I tried to call him in the evening, his cellphone was switched off. His lawyer told me Ahmed had returned after the hearing,” she added.

According to Parveen, the family runs a transport business in Lucknow. Guddu, a domestic help, had called her up on Saturday night to say the Sarojini Nagar police had picked up Ahmed and Khan. “Amit Tiwari, a constable of Sarojini Nagar police station was in the team who arrested the two,” said Parveen.

Following this, Praveen left for Lucknow and visited the police station. “But they denied having arrested any person with my husband’s name. Later, I faxed the details of the incident to the Chief Judicial Magistrate,” she said.

Parveen accused the police of framing Ahmed in 13 cases and Khan in 9 cases. “It was in connection to these cases that they had come to Lucknow,” she added.