Prayagraj: A shooter involved in the Umesh Pal murder case reportedly died in an encounter with the crime branch police on Monday morning, sources said. The accused, Usman aka Vijay was gunned down by the police near Kaundhiyara.

This morning, in a breakthrough, Usman, a resident of Kodiyara was killed in an encounter

According to police sources, Vijay is the man who first fired on Umesh Pal during the shootout. Police noted that Usman was earlier Vijay Chaudhary, a Hindu by birth. Atiq Ahmed and his aides were instrumental in converting him to Islam.

Acting on specific inputs, DCP Yamunanagar Santosh Meena and ACP Karchhana Ajit Singh along with a huge force began combing the Kaundhiyara area early Monday morning. Upon being spotted, police asked Usman to surrender, in response to which, he fired at them. He sustained injuries in retaliatory firing by the police. At 5:29 am, he was rushed to CHC Kaundhiyara where he was referred to medical college. Usman was then taken to the trauma centre of SRN hospital where succumbed to his injuries shortly after.

Police had earlier announced a reward of 50,000 for information leading to Usman aka Vijay’s arrest.

ADG LO Prashant Kumar noted in a press release that six accused were named while several were unidentified in the FIR registered in the Umesh Pal murder case. Arbaaz, who was the driver of the vehicle used in the shootout, was killed in an encounter on February 27, while another accused, Sadakat Khan was arrested.

‘This morning, in a breakthrough, Usman, a resident of Kodiyara was killed in an encounter. He was shifted to a hospital but passed away. He carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest,’ the statement read. “We’re taking help of central agencies wherever required to trace the accused,” ADG kumar said.