Additional Director General Amitabh Yash said that Kanaujia, a key sharpshooter of the Mukhtar Ansari gang, was neutralised after exchange of heavy gunfire between the police and the gangster.
The 42-year-old Kanaujia, a resident of Bahlolpur village in Chiraiyakot police station area of Mau district, committed his first murder in 2003 in Ranipur police station area of the same district.
Over the years, he became infamous for several criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, and extortion. A total of 23 criminal cases, including under the Gangster Act, murder, attempt to murder were registered against him across Mau, Ghazipur, and Azamgarh districts.
Yash said during the encounter, police recovered two pistols—one 9mm and one .32 bore—from Kanaujia.
9mm pistols are commonly used by police and military forces.
Incidentally, Kanaujia met his end on the first death anniversary of Mukhtar Ansari, the very gangster under whose shadow he rose to power in the criminal world, the STF said.