LUCKNOW: A joint team of Bangarmau Police and the Special Operations Group (SOG) shot dead a Rs 1 lakh reward-carrying criminal during an encounter in the early hours of Monday in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.According to police, the encounter took place around 3.40am on the Agra Expressway airstrip service road under the Bangarmau police station limits while police personnel were conducting checks on suspicious persons and vehicles.During the operation, police received information from an informer that Israel alias Izrail, son of Shakur and a resident of Purviya Tola in Bangarmau, was waiting near the Tajpur underpass to meet an associate.Israel was wanted in connection with Case No. 168/2026 registered at Bangarmau police station under Sections 103(1), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act.Police said he was accused of brutally stabbing Baba Milandas to death on June 9 and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his arrest.Acting on the tip-off, the SOG and Bangarmau police teams rushed to the spot and surrounded the accused.Police said Israel was asked to surrender but instead opened fire on the police party. During the exchange of fire, a bullet struck the bulletproof jacket of sub-inspector Newton Kumar Singh, while another bullet hit SOG constable Vikas Bhadoria in the hand, causing a firearm injury.Police retaliated in self-defence, during which Israel sustained gunshot injuries. He was immediately rushed to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Bangarmau, where doctors declared him dead.SSP Unnao, Jai Prakash Singh said that police recovered a knife allegedly used in the murder, a 0.315 bore country-made pistol, and two empty 0.315 bore cartridges from the spot.The body has been taken into custody and further legal proceedings are underway.