Lucknow, Oct. 14: After ruling the ravines for 22 years, bandit king Nirbhay Gujjar today took a police bullet for the first time in a gunbattle that killed two of his last remaining loyalists.

More than the wound in his leg, the twin deaths would have pained the embattled dacoit chief, dashing his hopes of rebuilding his fast-depleting gang, down to about 12 men from a once formidable 75.

The police, tipped off about Gujjar’s plan to camp in a jungle near the village of Garia in Etwah district, about 245 km from here, lay in wait for him since the small hours. Sources said Gujjar was waiting for four captives, kidnapped elsewhere, to be handed over to him so that he could extort ransom from their families.

Around 4.30 am, as gang members opened their baskets of food for a late dinner, the 23-member anti-dacoity squad policemen began shooting. The first volley of fire seemed to demoralise Gujjar. By the time the guns fell silent temporarily, Updhesh alias Fauji and Ranveer were lying dead.

“As soon as he saw his men fall, Nirbhay retreated behind a mound and began firing from his semi-automatic rifle,” said Daljit Singh Chaudhary, senior superintendent of police, Etawah. But after two hours of battle, Gujjar had had enough and was forced to run.

“As he did, he was shot in the leg. We don’t know how serious the injury is,” Chaudhary said.

Gujjar had had his first setback when his wife Neelum eloped with his adopted son Shyam Jatav in June last year. In August this year, six of his gang members were shot dead by the police.

The dacoit, who carries an award of Rs 2.5 lakh on his head, had his third setback in September when Sarala Jatav, his mistress, was arrested in Etawah while on her way to Mumbai.

In early September, Gujjar had approached the Madhya Pradesh government to work out a surrender deal but it fell through.

Chief minister Babulal Gaur later said he had discouraged his police from “staging any surrender drama”.