Fearing for his life, gangster surrenders
Underground for 11 years, Ravi Deol surrenders in Sangrur court as he feared police might kill him
BOXERTURNEDSINGER, WHO TURNED TO CRIME, WAS DECLARED PO IN 2007, NAMED IN BHOLA DRUG CASE IN 2013
SANGRUR: Four days after the death of most-wanted gangster Vicky Gounder in an encounter, Ravicharan Singh alias Ravi Deol, a gangster named in the Bhola drug case, surrendered before a local court on Tuesday.
Deol, who surrendered before judicial magistrate first class (JMIC) Jagbir Singh Mehandiratta after 11 years of underground life, said he was fearing ‘fake police encounter’. He came to the court with his counsel Ashwani Choudhary around 12.30 pm.
The court remanded him in four-day police remand till February 3 in an attempt to murder case.
Deol, a boxer-turned-singer who turned to crime, was declared proclaimed offender (PO) in 2007 and ever since he was living in Mumbai, where he wrote songs and recorded them in his own voice.
“I was worried that police could kill me in a fake encounter and implicate me in false cases, which was the main reason behind my surrender,” he said.
Deol, who is a close relative of international boxer Ram Singh, was named in the Bhola drug case by the Fatehgarh Sahib police in 2013. Ram Singh was also an accused in the case. The police had allegedly recovered a huge quantity of drugs from Deol’s house in Sangrur in April 2013.
Sangrur SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, “Deol is facing 12 cases, including 8 in Sangrur. He was declared PO in 5 cases in Sangrur. He was booked under the NDPS Act in Fatehgarh Sahib. We will investigate what he was doing in the past 11 years during his underground life.”
His counsel Choudhary said Deol wanted to live a normal life and wished to join mainstream life. “After his declaration as PO, Deol shifted to Mumbai and never returned to Punjab. He recorded his songs. He surrendered in the court fearing a fake encounter,” said Choudhary.
Before his surrender, Deol left a message on the social media. “I am going to take an important step of my life. I am going to surrender in a court. I thank my well-wishers and will return soon with new songs,” he said in a video posted on Whatsapp.