VARANASI, July 20 -- : Five members of an alleged interstate vehicle-lifting gang were arrested after an encounter with the SWAT/surveillance team and Bairia police on the Bairia-Bihar route in Ballia during the early hours of Sunday.

The arrested men were identified as Hemant Singh, Harsh Raj Singh, Dinesh Srivastava, Anuj Upadhyay and Jaykumar Gond. Hemant suffered a bullet injury to his right leg during the encounter and was admitted to a government hospital, while his four alleged accomplices were arrested later.

Additional superintendent of police Sanjay Verma said the SWAT/Surveillance team and Bairia police were conducting patrols and vehicle checks around 2.45 am after receiving information that members of a vehicle-lifting gang...