Under attack over deployment of a huge force for tackling a lone dacoit in an encounter that lasted over 50 hours,the Uttar Pradesh police chief said on Thursday that the force could not eliminate Ghanshyam Kewat much earlier because it suffered early casualties and in good numbers. DGP Vikram Verma said at a press conference in Lucknow that the police will learn from this encounter and analyse each and every aspect of it. "We could not neutralise the dacoit since we suffered from early casualties and in greater number," he said,when asked why the operation lasted so long. "It's an endless debate. In an encounter one side is at an advantageous position,while the other is not," he said. Giving details of the police operation in Chitrakoot district,120 km from Allahabad,Singh said the encounter started at village Jamauli at around 11.00 a.m. on June 16 in which four constables were killed. They are Shamim of the Special Operation Group,Chitrakoot,Beni Madhav Singh of PAC,Veer Singh of the Special Task Force and Iqbal. While Shamim and Beni Madhav Singh lost their live on June 16,Iqbal succumbed to his injuries the next day and Veer Singh succumbed to his injuries on Thursday.
