PATNA, March 20 -- The death of a young and highly trained Special Task Force (STF) personnel, Shriram Kumar Yadav, during an encounter with trigger-happy criminals in Bihar's Motihari district on Tuesday morning has come as a major shock to the police headquarters. The criminals, who were engaged in making reels with weapons to showcase their prowess, were confronted by the STF team during a raid. Though both criminals were neutralised on the spot, a senior police official said that losing a trained commando to such anti-social elements - who had threatened the local additional Station House Officer (SHO) over the phone, prompting the police raid - was completely unexpected. "Yadav was a trained commando from the National Security Guard (NSG) and had also received training from Greyhound. It is hard to believe that he was killed in such a manner. The anti-socials fired indiscriminately as the STF jawan entered the suspected hideout in the middle of the night," the official said. "As soon as the young officer opened the door and reached the veranda, where an iron grill was installed, and challenged the suspected criminals, they fired about 36 rounds at the police from inside the room. Kundan Thakur, a resident of Chakia police station area, and Priyanshu Dubey, a resident of Muzaffarpur, were shot during the police action. Both later died during treatment," said East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Swarn Prabhat. The SP added that the deceased were members of the Tunna Singh gang and were in the process of forming a new faction. "There are 6-7 members in the gang. Their main occupation was to create reels with weapons, portray themselves as heroes, collect money, and spread terror in the area," he said. He also confirmed that the owner of the house, Sant Kumar Tiwari, and his son Ujjawal Kumar have been arrested. "At the time of the incident, Sant Tiwari's wife and daughter were also present. An FIR has been registered against them. Tiwari runs a grocery shop next to the house," he added. Police said the house had CCTV cameras installed, which the criminals used to monitor the STF team, giving them a clear view of Yadav as he entered. A carbine, two pistols, two country-made pistols, five live cartridges, and seven empty cartridges were recovered from the encounter site. Another police official said that a call made by the criminals was traced to a Nepal-based number, which led police to the house where the raid was conducted. In view of increasing attacks on the police in recent days, the police headquarters has issued special guidelines to all districts. SPs across the state have been instructed to strictly follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the headquarters for raids. On Wednesday, a meeting of senior police officers was held at the police headquarters under the chairmanship of DGP Vinay Kumar. Range IGs, DIGs, and district SPs joined via video conferencing. "Before taking action, the situation should be assessed carefully, and police teams should be deployed with adequate force. With prior notice to senior officers, monitoring can be ensured, and additional force will be provided if required," the DGP instructed....