The Uttar Pradesh Police said that two alleged shooters involved in the murder of Dainik Jagran journalist Raghavendra Bajpai in March this year were killed in an encounter in the Pisawa area of Sitapur district early Thursday morning.Brothers Raju Tiwari alias Rizwan Khan and Sanjay Tiwari alias Shakeel Khan were wanted in several criminal cases and carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh each, said the Special Task Force (STF) of Noida Police, which carried out the operation with the help of Sitapur Police.“The two were wanted for the murder of Raghavendra Bajpai, a correspondent with Dainik Jagran, in Sitapur in March this year. On Thursday morning, we received information that Raju alias Rizwan and Sanjay alias Shakeel were on their way to their Sitapur home on a motorbike from Pihani village in Hardoi district. They were intercepted in Pisawa in Sitapur district. When told to stop, they opened fire. In response, we fired back, and both of them were shot. We took them to CHC Pisawa. They were later referred to Sitapur District Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries,” said a senior police officer in Noida STF.“We also recovered several weapons from their possession, including three pistols, empty and live cartridges,” added the police officer.Bajpai, 35, was killed near Maholi town in Sitapur district in broad daylight on March 3 this year.According to police, Bajpai’s body bore four bullet wounds. Initially, police registered a murder FIR against unidentified persons and pointed to an alleged land dispute as the cause of the killing. Back then, Bajpai’s family suspected that he was killed owing to his reportage on alleged irregularities in paddy procurement and stamp duty evasion in land purchases. The police, however, said neither the victim nor his family ever reported having received any threats.Nearly a month after Bajpai’s death, Sitapur police arrested a temple priest and his two associates, claiming that the priest, Vikas Rathore alias Shivanand, had given Rs 4 lakh to his acquaintances Nirmal Singh and Aslam Ghazi for killing Bajpai after he was spotted by the journalist sexually abusing a minor boy on the temple premises.Story continues below this ad“Nirmal and Aslam, both residents of Sitapur district, in turn hired the two shooters – Raju and Sanjay – for the job,” a police officer involved in the murder probe said.“A team was formed under Additional Superintendent of Police (Noida STF) Raj Kumar Mishra to collect information on the two shooters,” the officer added.According to police, the two brothers, born to an interfaith couple, were hardened criminals with over two dozen cases, including that of murder, robbery ,and dacoity, registered against them. “Raju alias Rizwan went to jail for the first time in 2004 for stealing a motorcycle. There, he met other criminals. After he was released from jail, he committed crimes like murder and robbery,” a police officer in Sitapur said.“In 2006, Raju killed Sub-Inspector Parej Ali by slitting his stomach and looting his revolver. In 2011, Sanjay alias Shakeel shot a woman dead in Sitapur. Their activities came to the limelight in 2015 after they allegedly shot dead Bajpai,” the officer added.PTI adds:Story continues below this adJournalist’s wife says police probe ‘fabricated’, demands CBI probeHowever, the journalist’s wife slammed the encounter and called for a CBI probe into the matter. Bajpai’s wife, Rashmi, said, “We are dissatisfied with today’s encounter and the police work. Everything revealed by the police was fabricated. We have never been satisfied with it,” she said.“We have been demanding a CBI inquiry from the beginning, but it has not taken place because it would have revealed the identities of those involved in my husband’s murder. We received no information about the encounter that occurred today. This is how justice is served,” she said, adding she will go to Delhi to demand a CBI inquiry into the matter.