Gangster Raju Basaudi held from Delhi airport
Apart from extortions, his gang is responsible for many sensational crimes in Punjab, Haryana & Delhi where 25 odd FIRs are registered against him
CHANDIGARH: The special task force (STF) of Haryana Police has arrested Raju Basaudi, a notorious criminal with links to the interstate gang operated by Lawrence Bishnoi.
Basaudi was extradited from Thailand on Saturday morning, the state police said. This is the second case for Haryana’s STF after it managed to secure extradition of another gangster Kaushal from the UAE.
Police sources said Raju Basaudi had been hiding in Thailand since 2017 after the sensational murder of two inmates in police custody in Jhajjar district.
An official release on Saturday stated that Basaudi was wanted by the police in Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi in more than 29 cases of heinous crimes.
The Haryana Police had announced a reward of ₹2.5 lakh for information leading to his arrest. A lookout circular for the gangster was recently issued to nab the hardcore criminal.
He was arrested from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport by the STF after an alert by immigration officials. Satheesh Balan, DIG (special task force) said Basaudi was handed over to the STF team around 7am by the Delhi airport authority after the immigration officer found a red corner notice and a lookout circular against him.
“We (STF) received a call from the CBI around 1.30am that the immigration department has informed them of the mostwanted gangster’s arrival at the airport. One of the STF teams was sent to the airport to take him into custody and he was brought to Gurugram,” said Balan.
A native of Basaudi village in Sonepat district, the gangster is associated with the likes of Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra, Anil Chippi, Akshay Palra and Naresh Sethi, who are lodged in different jails.
His close associate Sandeep alias Kala of Jatheri had recently escaped from police custody in Faridabad. Basaudi was involved in 13 cases of murder, three cases of attempt to murder and around a dozen cases of robbery and dacoity. Among other things, Basaudi is accused of running an extortion racket from Thailand which mainly targeted businessmen in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, and Delhi for protection money and was collecting over ₹1 crore every month as extortion sum.
“His gang used social media platforms, especially Facebook, to intimidate their targets, claim their hand in different crimes and give false moral and ideological justifications for their gruesome murders,” said Balan. The gang had recently carried out broad daylight murders of their rivals at Malout in Punjab and Manimajra in Chandigarh.
Police said Basaudi’s police custody will be sought for sustained interrogation to find out the whereabouts of Kala Jatheri, his associate and for solving many more criminal cases.
SENT IN 10-DAY POLICE REMAND
Basaudi was on Saturday produced in a court in Sonepat, which sent him in 10-day police remand. Sonepat STF chief Satish Deshwal said,“He had been motivating youths to join his gang.”