Berhampur: A most-wanted criminal was shot at in an encounter by the district police Saturday in the Gopalpur area of Ganjam district, police said.
Dipu Nayak aka Dipuna was shot in the left leg near the knee after he fired at a police team that had been trailing him along the Dhabalesh war road under Gopalpur police limits, police said.
A police officer was also wounded in the exchange of fire. Nayak was taken into custody and admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital, where he remains under police guard while receiving treatment.
The encounter followed an earlier incident Saturday in which a group of young men stopped a youth on the Gopalpur overbridge in broad daylight, assaulted him and allegedly attempted to push him off the bridge, a potential murder attempt that had already raised concerns for law enforcement.
Police said they suspected Nayak’s involvement in that attack.