The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) shot dead wanted criminal Asif Ali, 40, in an encounter in Ambedkar Nagar early Tuesday (July 7) morning. STF officers said the encounter took place around 4 am near Jagdishpur village, about 25 km from the district headquarters.
According to the STF, the team received information that Asif was hiding in the area and was planning another crime. Officers surrounded him, but he tried to escape on a motorcycle. When the STF chased him, he opened fire. One constable suffered a bullet injury to his right hand. The STF returned fire, and two bullets hit Asif in the chest.
The team rushed him to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead during treatment. STF recovered a pistol, a 12-bore country-made gun, and a motorcycle from his possession.
Led Chhaimar Gang, Wanted in Six Murders
Asif Ali led the notorious Chhaimar gang and faced charges in several cases of murder, dacoity, and robbery. Police said he was wanted in six murders, including the killings of two married couples. Jaunpur Police had announced a reward of ₹1 lakh for his arrest.
Police records show that he faced around 20 criminal cases in UP, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
According to Additional SP Rajkumar Mishra of the Noida STF unit, Asif and his gang carried out a brutal robbery in Jaunpur. During that attack, they killed two women and seriously injured three other people, who later survived.
Gang Followed a Fixed Pattern
Police said Asif and his gang followed a similar method in almost every crime. They usually struck at night while wearing only undergarments to make identification difficult. The gang entered houses, held families hostage, looted cash and jewellery, and often killed victims before escaping.
After each crime, Asif reportedly changed his identity and hid in another district or state to avoid arrest.
Family Lived in Kanpur After 2015
Police said Asif’s family settled in a hut on vacant land in Makanpur village near Kanpur around 2015. During that period, they also obtained Aadhaar cards using the local address. At that time, Asif reportedly worked for the Babaria gang.
His name surfaced in the 2015 murder and dacoity case at Khadamau village, where robbers attacked Raja Singh’s family. Raja Singh died after the assault. After the incident, Asif’s family fled the village, and police continued searching for them.
Police later arrested his relative Kallu alias Firoz on February 6, 2026. He carried rewards worth ₹75,000 in different cases, including ₹25,000 announced by Kanpur Police.
Major Crimes Linked to Asif Ali
Asif was involved several major crimes over the years.
In October 2013, he and about 10 gang members entered a house in Sultanpur, took the family hostage, carried out a dacoity, and killed one person.
In 2014, the gang attacked a house in Shahganj, Jaunpur. They looted cash and jewellery and attacked five family members with sharp weapons. Two women, Swati and Suman, later died from their injuries.
In August 2015, the gang robbed a house in Kaushambi and killed a husband and wife after holding the family hostage.
Just four days later, on August 19, 2015, Asif and his associates raided Mahavir Singh’s house in Muzaffarnagar. They attacked his daughter-in-law with a sharp weapon and carried out robberies at five other houses on the same night.
In January 2021, police accused Asif of entering a house in Rasulabad in Kanpur Dehat and murdering a man named Tasim.
With Asif’s death, the STF says it has eliminated one of the state’s most wanted dacoits, who remained on the run for years despite multiple murder and robbery cases across several states.
