Varanasi: The STF gunned down notorious shooter Banarasi Yadav near Bariyasanpur along the Ring Road under Chaubepur police station during an exchange of fire, in the wee hours on Wednesday.Banarasi was on the radar of police and STF after he allegedly killed builder Mahendra Gautam, by spraying bullets at him in front of his house in Sarnath area on Aug 21, 2025. Police kept a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh on him. Acting on a tip-off about movement of Banarasi on Ghazipur-Varanasi highway, a team of the STF Varanasi field unit cordoned off the area near Bariyasanpur along Ring Road and started monitoring passers-by. During the drive, when the STF personnel signalled Banarasi to stop, he opened fire. When the STF retaliated, Banarasi suffered bullet injuries. The STF rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Apart from two pistols, STF also recovered a large quantity of cartridges from him.With 21 criminal cases, including murder, Banarasi, a resident of Gaurhat in Karanda area of Ghazipur, came on the radar of police and STF when he along with two accomplices raided the house of builder , Mahendra Gautam in Sinhpur area of Sarnath on August 21, 2025, and killed him. One of his accomplices, Arvind Banarasi alias Fauji of Ghazipur, was arrested by Sarnath police on Jan 4. Officials said that the other associate was identified as Vishal of Ghazipur and he will also be arrested soon, said police.After becoming active in the crime world in 2002, Banarasi committed crimes in Varanasi, Ghazipur and Sonbhadra, and was also booked under Goonda Act and Gangsters Act. Banarasi and his 2 associates were given a contract to kill the builder by his old acquaintance Jogendra Banarasi alias Fattu of Ghazipur, in a dispute involving 29 biswa of land worth Rs 60 crore. During police investigation, it also came to light that Banarasi procured weapons from Mohammad Mukim of Munger in Bihar.Apart from Arvind Banarasi, other accused in the murder case, including Jogendra Banarasi , Sampurnanand Shukla of Sarnath, Shyam Rajbhar alias Rekha Pradhan, and Mohammad Mukim, are in jail.
