Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police went trigger-happy carrying out seven encounters in western districts since Saturday night in which three criminals were gunned down and six arrested.

The encounters took place in Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Muzaffarnagar districts, DIG (law and order) Praveen Kumar said.

Six policemen were also injured in the encounters, he told reporters here.

Uttar Pradesh police have been on an encounter spree since the past one year when chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave the green signal for a crackdown on criminals. More than 1,300 encounters have taken place in the state in the past few months.

The chief minister has repeatedly said that the police have a right to fire back if criminals open fire at them.

In Gautam Buddha Nagar’s Sector 119, police on Sunday gunned down a wanted criminal Shravan Chaudhary, a resident of Siddharth Vihar in Ghaziabad, who carried a reward of Rs one lakh on his head. One AK 47 rifle and another gun were recovered from him. In Dankaur town, two criminals, Asraf and Salim, were injured in an encounter while two of their accomplices managed to escape, police said. The four culprits had allegedly stolen a truck from Noida Sector 39 area.    

In Ghaziabad, Rahul, a dreaded criminal, was arrested after he sustained gunshot injuries in an exchange of fire with police in Sihani Gate area on Saturday. Rahul and constable Sachin were admitted to hospital for treatment of injuries.

In Vijay Nagar police station area of Ghaziabad, a local history sheeter, Sunder, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, was arrested on Saturday after an encounter but died in hospital on Sunday, Ghaziabad SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.

Sunder, hailing from Pilkhuwa town and wanted in five cases of attempt to murder, killing and robbery, succumbed to his injuries in a Noida hospital on Sunday, he said.

In Dadri, a criminal identified as Jitendra, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head, was arrested, a senior police officer said.

Wanted criminal Ahsan, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000 on his head, was killed after a brief clash with Saharanpur police in Jhinjhana Shamli. He was declared dead in hospital. His accomplice managed to escape. In Muzaffarnagar, two criminals were arrested after an encounter.