Ropar police on Friday nabbed one of the 'most wanted' gangsters of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, after a chase and exchange of fire.
According to Ropar police offcials, Jhunna Pandit is the 11th gangster nabbed by them in the past one year.
Prakash Mishra alias Jhunna Pandit, who carried a Rs 1 lakh reward on his head, was wanted in 10 cases of murder, including a triple murder in Mirzapur and had been booked in six cases under the UP. Gangster Act. He operated a gang involved in over 20 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping in Delhi and UP, according to SSP Ropar, Swapan Sharma.
Police said the gangster had the patronage of many “anti-social elements” based in Delhi, UP. and Rajasthan. The CIA teams of Ropar Police also seized 2 pistols of 32 bore and 8 live bullets, along with some personal items, from him after the encounter which led to his arrest early Friday morning.
Pandit had reportedly been on the run, ever since he and his gang members publicly killed one Dilip Patel in Banaras. Dilip’s brother, Rajesh Patel, is the UP. state president of Kisan Morcha.
Eight members of Jhunna Pandit’s gang are already in various jails of Delhi and UP, and most of the crimes committed by the group are of ‘supari-killings’ and related to inter-gang rivalry.
According to the SSP, Pandit is said to be an expert marksman who can handle “any type of weapon”. He had been hiding in safe houses in Delhi, Jaipur and Mount Abu since he fled UP and was returning to Delhi from Chintpurni.
Pandit is said to have committed his first crime at the age of 15 and his first murder at the age of 16. He was kept in juvenile jail twice for a period of three years each. Initial investigations reveal that the dreaded criminal even got three murders, involving extortion and kidnapping, executed when he was in jail. Interestingly, even when he was on the run, he would travel by air.
According to the SSP, recent investigations show that most of the gangsters and contraband smugglers use a common modus-operandi. They use local routes to travel and usually have hideouts near religious places, in order to remain anonymous.
“Anti-social activity of such elements in areas around Punjab-Himachal border have come down drastically in recent months, with the police discovering their basic modus operandi,” he added.