Mafiosi, politicians kept ‘Chavvani’ in pocket for killings

LUCKNOW: This ‘Chavvani’ had gained wide currency in the crime world. No wonder, some mafiosi and politicians allegedly loved to have him in their pocket, using him to run an extortion racket and eliminate their opponents.

Eventually, the proverbial long arm of the law caught up with him. And Sumit Kumar Singh alias Monu, infamous in the underworld as Chavvani, along with his associate Chandrika Sahani, was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) near Kukrail embankment in Mahanagar, Lucknow, on Sunday night.

Armed with carbine and pistol, he let loose a reign of terror in east UP as well as the districts of Bihar bordering Uttar Pradesh. A resident of Narai Imaliya village in Mau district, he had hideouts in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhy Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. The UP police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 whereas the Bihar police declared a prize of Rs 10,000 on his capture.

Giving details of the notorious criminal’s track record, additional director general (law and order) Daljit Singh Chawdhary said, “Monu Chavvani is wanted in over two dozen cases of murder and extortion in UP and Bihar. The police have recovered weapons and cartridges from his possession.”

During interrogation, Monu spilled the beans on the nexus between politicians, mafiosi and contract killers. He claimed he was provided protection by politicians in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and other states.

In August 2014, he killed a local politician Bindeshwari Mishra and his son Parshuram Mishra in Ballia at the behest of Mishra’s rival who paid him a hefty amount. Tension erupted in the area after the killing and police were deployed to control a mob.

Similarly, he killed Srikant Bharti, spokesperson for the local BJP MP, in Siwan district of Bihar in November 2014. The killing led to a political uproar in Bihar as the opposition lashed out at the state government.

“The STF found Bharti’s political rivals had hatched a conspiracy and hired Chavvani to eliminate him. The STF nabbed two of his associates Shailendra Yadav and Vikas Pal,” said inspector general of police, STF, Sujit Pandey.

Upendra Singh, another notorious gangster-turned-politician, allegedly supplied him with a carbine and pistol for the crime.

But the arrest of his associates did not deter Chavvani. He demanded Rs 10 lakh from Krishan Shahi, a politician in Gopalganj district of Bihar. He claimed he was provided protection by Siwan-based criminalturned-politician Shahabuddin.

“He had circulated photographs of STF personnel among his gang members to dodge the police. He used to change his mobile number frequently and informed his associates about the new numbers through email,” said SSP STF Amit Pathak.

An STF officer said that on several occasions, Chavvani informed his victim before killing him.

He was planning to kill a former MLA in Gorakhpur, a block pramukh in Ballia and two gram pradhans in Mau district. But the STF arrested him before he could strike.

DURING INTERROGATION, MONU SPILLED THE BEANS ON THE NEXUS BETWEEN POLITICIANS, MAFIOSI AND CONTRACT KILLERS