Barely 12 hours after the state police started celebrating its slaying of dacoit Dadua, six Special Task Force (STF) commandos were ambushed and killed by another gang led by Ambika Patel alias Thokia, the last of the dacoits spreading terror on the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border.

The STF men were killed in the Sati Anusya ashram in the Karia jungle of Chitrakoot (some 350 kilometres from Lucknow) on Sunday night. A police informer was also killed while 11 STF constables were injured. 

On Sunday morning, while one STF team was pursuing Dadua, another 20 men were chasing Thokia and even managed to bring down one of his gang members.

As the light faded, the STF team started to make its way back when dacoits, atop a hill ridge opened fire from AK 47s and hurled grenades at the STF vehicles.

Ironically, some hours earlier, Thokia’s rival Dadua had also been blown up by the STF’s hand grenades.

S S Yadav, a commando who was part of the operations, said that the dacoits had surrounded the police party from all sides.

Sources in the STF have also complained against the local police for not coming to pick up the body of the slain dacoit on time, forcing the team to delay its return. Sleuths also say the killings could have been avoided had the operation to trap Thokia been planned better.

As soon as news of the encounter reached the STF headquarters, combing operations were halted. On Monday, Chief Minister Mayawati said the break would allow the STF men to recoup. She also expressed grief over the demise of the STF personnel.

The government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to the 11 wounded personnel. A sum of Rs 2 lakh has been announced for the family of police informer Ram Karan.

According to secretary, home, Javed Ahmad, the MP police had blocked all entry points to check the movement of dacoits.