HYDERABAD, India, 2 May 2008 — Gangster Aziz Reddy, alias Baba Reddy, was shot dead by police in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills area late on Wednesday night.
Police Commissioner B. Prasada Rao said his officers went to the area acting on a tip that the gangster with two of his associates, all of them well-armed, were in the locality with the intention of extorting money in a land dispute.
After a two-hour search, a police team spotted three men getting out of a black Innova near Road No. 46 leading from Ambedkar Open University to B.N. Reddy Nagar. Police identified one of the three as Aziz Reddy. As the police team advanced toward the gang, Aziz Reddy and his associates tried to flee. The police party asked them to surrender, but Aziz Reddy whipped out a 9mm pistol and started firing at the officers, police said. The officers took cover in a nearby walled enclosure and returned fire. In the encounter that ensued, Aziz Reddy died while his associates fled, police said.
Rao said Aziz Reddy was a close associate of Mumbai underworld leader Chhota Rajan. A native of Hyderabad, Aziz Reddy was linked by police to two murders in the city in 1990-91. He later shifted operations to Mumbai.
