'Don't shoot me': Man with placard around neck surrenders before police in UP

Gonda: A man wanted in a loot case surrendered before the police here with a placard hung around his neck that read "I have come to surrender, don't shoot me", officials said on Wednesday.

The man, identified as Ankit Verma, has been on the run for the past six months, they added.

"It is a result of the fear of the police among the criminals that they are surrendering," Circle Officer (CO) Navina Shukla said.

On Tuesday, Verma reached the Chhapia police station with a placard hung around his neck and shouted, "I have come to surrender, don't shoot me," he said.

The placard also carried the same message in his handwriting, the police officer said.

One Amarjit Chauhan of Mahuli Khori village had filed a complaint with the police alleging that when he was returning from a college on February 20 on a motorcycle, two men stopped him near Piprahi bridge and looted his two-wheeler, mobile phone and wallet at gunpoint, he said.

Subsequently, a case of robbery was lodged and during investigation, the names of Ankit Verma and another person came to the fore, Shukla said, adding Superintendent of Police Ankit Mittal also announced a reward of Rs 20,000 on their arrest.

Station House Officer Suresh Kumar Verma said the man was placed under arrest and other legal formalities were carried out.

The surrender of the man before the visit of Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath here is being described by the police as a "big achievement".