Calls to female friend helped STF nab Bheem Army chief from HP
LUCKNOW: Bheem Army founder Chandrashekhar, who was on the run for about a month, fell into the police net on Thursday because of the phone calls he was continuously making to his female friend.
Arrested from Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, police said Chandrashekhar frequently changed his location and travelled to four different states during his run for 28 days.
However, all through his run since May 9, he was in touch with this friend from Dehradun, said UP Special Task Force (STF) sleuths. In fact, at the time of his was arrest, too, Chandrashekhar was talking to her, said Amit Pathak, senior superintendent of police (SSP) of UP STF.
He used multiple mobile numbers to remain in touch with some of Bheem Army activists.
Chandrashekhar, key accused in Saharanpur violence, faces more than 30 cases lodged against him after he led a protest by group of Dalits against alleged atrocities by upper caste people in Saharanpur. He had organised a ‘mahapanchayat’ which led to widespread violence in Saharanpur on May 9. At least 20 people were arrested on May 10 but he along with 11 others active group members were elusive.
“We were tracking Chandrashekhar but unable to catch him as he kept on shifting his location in Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,” said Pathak. He said Chandrashekhar visited Hardiwar (Uttarakhand) after escaping from Saharanpur and then to Delhi, Punjab’s Phagwara, Hoshiyarpur and Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba.
The six-member STF team was camping in Dalhousie since Chandrashekhar reached there on Wednesday afternoon. “Though the team was aware that he is in Dalhousie but it could not trace his hotel and searching of all hotels there would have alerted him. The STF sleuths were present at different strategic locations in the market area and spotted him when he came out of the hotel talking on mobile phone with his female friend,” he added.
He said Chandrashekhar had reached Dalhousie by road and had plans to revisit Delhi in a few days where he was planning to hold even bigger protests next week.