According to the police, the encounter took place at 1.30 pm near Rasoolpur village under Chinhat police circle. “At 1 pm, we received information that two motorcycle-borne criminals had opened fire at two constables when the later tried to stop them during a routine vehicle check near the Allahabad Bank branch in Takrohi village.”

Sometime later, the Chinhat and Ghazipur police zeroed in on the criminals at the Rasoolpur village crossing and asked them to stop.

Singh, accompanied by Anshu Dixit, a co-accused in the Tripathi murder case, however, opened fire at the police team. In the ensuing crossfire, Singh was killed, said police sources. Dixit, however, managed to escape.

Station House Officer Arun Kumar of the Ghazipur police station recognised the absconder as Dixit. “A team has been deployed for combing the nearby forest where Dixit is hiding. We hope to arrest him soon,” said S C Dubey, Circle Officer, Gomti Nagar. A blue Pulsar motorcycle (without a registration plate), a country-made pistol and few empty cartridges were recovered from the spot of the encounter.

A few months ago, Singh was declared an absconder and his property along with his ancestral home in Faizabad was attached by the police.

Singh is accused of shooting Tripathi, former general secretary of Lucknow University, and his associate Gaurav Singh in broad daylight at Nehru Enclave on December 12. Dixit and one Sudhakar had accompanied him in the crime.

According to sources, earlier, Singh and Tripathi used to work together, but a recent dispute over a government contract led to animosity between the two. Tripathi’s murder is considered the fallout of that dispute.

Following this, the police had conducted a number of raids in Lucknow and other districts to arrest the three accused, but without success.