A greater Noida official was freed and his alleged kidnappers gunned down by police in an encounter at Sector-88 early Wednesday morning.

The police identified the deceased as Mohammed Wasim of Loni, Ghaziabad; Imran of Mauzpur in Delhi and Shekhar Sharma, a resident of Dankaur. The police said all three were in their early 20s.

Shankar Dutt, 27, the personal assistant of Noida and Greater Noida Authority CEO Mohinder Singh, was abducted near Noida’s Pari Chowk around 7 pm on Tuesday. The police today said the assailants had made ransom calls from Dutt’s cellphone to his home — in Moti Bagh, South Delhi — and demanded Rs 10 lakh.

On Wednesday, Dutt said he was waiting for a bus when the trio arrived in a car (an Indica) and forced him in: “They beat me and tied my hands.” Blindfolded, he was put in the leg space of the backseat. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Budh Nagar, Ashok Kumar Singh said it is suspected the trio first abducted Dutt to rob him but later realised he was an official of the Greater Noida Authority and thus made the ransom call.

After Dutt’s family called the police, Dutt’s mobile number was put on surveillance, Superintendent of Police (City) Ashok Tripathi said. Police traced their location to the Delhi-Noida border.

While police in Noida, Greater Noida and surrounding areas were alerted, the police suspected the car they were looking for was a white Indica when it sped off when asked to stop for checking. Tripathi said the police gave a chase and was fired upon. “The abductors were killed in cross-fire around 4.50 am,” he said.

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