The Varanasi police gunned down dreaded gangster Rinku Tiwari in an exchange of fire on Wednesday. The police have recovered.9 mm and .32 bore pistols from his possession.

Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments each had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on Tiwari’s head. Besides the 24 cases registered against him including murder, extortion and the Gangsters Act, Tiwari was wanted for the murder of senior Congress leader in Haryana, Chandra Singh Brar. In 2006, Brar was killed in the Sadar area of Sirsa, Haryana.

Wednesday’s operation was led by Girija Shanker Tripathi, in-charge of the Special Operation Group (SOG) in Varanasi. The team had traced Tiwari’s movement in and around Varanasi with the help of cellphone surveillance.

Following a tip-off, the team laid a trap near Mohan Sarai Bypass Road in Rohania area. “When the officers tried to stop the Qualis in which Rinku was suspected to be travelling, the occupants of the car opened fire. The police retaliated leading to Tiwari’s death,” Tripathi said.

Varanasi Range IG Gurdarshan Singh said: “The gangster was registered as a history-sheeter and the leader of a gang at Varanasi’s Cantonment police station. The Hary-ana police had been conducting raids in Varanasi for several months to arrest Rinku.” He was also in regular contact with fugitive don Munna Bajrangi and the CBI had been probing his role in the murder of BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai, Singh added.

The IG said Tiwari and his gang members extorted hefty amounts from businessmen and others by issuing life threats. According to Tripathi, the victims used to avoid seeking police help, as Tiwari had made near-fatal attacks on Munna Chaturvedi, a restaurateur and Atul Singh, the owner of Balaji Coaching during the last two years. A garment trader, Sanjiv Shah, was also killed by the gang in 2008 after he failed to meet the extortion demand, he added.