Professor killed by robbers in UP, accused shot dead in encounter

Bareilly, Sep 20 (IANS)  The robber, who hacked a professor to death in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur, has been shot dead, said police on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old assistant professor was hacked to death on Tuesday, allegedly by armed robbers who barged into his house.

Three of his family members were also critically injured.

The main accused Shahbaz was arrested later in the evening on Tuesday but he snatched the firearm of an inspector while he was being taken to court and was shot dead in the encounter.

According to reports, neighbours found the family, including assistant Professor Alok Gupta, lying in a pool of blood. His wife Sonam, father Sudheer Gupta and brother Prashant were among the injured.

In a police complaint, Sonam said, “I was asleep in my room with the children. Around 3.30 a.m. on Tuesday, I heard a loud noise and I went outside. To my horror, I saw some men repeatedly stabbing my husband with long knives. I tried to save him and screamed for help. The men stabbed me too. Other members of the family arrived and the assailants tried to flee. We managed to catch one of them. At least 8-10 men entered our house by scaling the boundary wall."

She further added, “The attacker said his name was Shahbaz and he had been sent by notorious criminal Shageer Khan.”