Sharpshooter of Raju Basodi gang arrested, carried ₹2 lakh bounty
GURUGRAM: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Haryana Police arrested 33-year-old wanted sharpshooter of the Raju Basodi gang from Ismaila in Rohtak on Tuesday night, the police said.
The suspect, identified as Pawan alias Totla, was arrested after the STF team received information on his whereabouts. The police said they recovered one motorcycle and two countrymade pistols from his possession.
Police said that during interrogations, Pawan confessed to his involvement in 33 cases, including 11 murders, over the last two years when he was absconding, the police said, adding that he has been involved in more than 20 cases of dacoity, ransom, snatching, and robbery in Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
He allegedly told the police that he used to get the supply of weapons through other members of the gang, and that he also took care of the logistics for gang members to carry out operations in the four states.
The gang has become active in four states in the last two years and have joined hands with members of other gangs to run operations. STF DIG Satheesh Balan said the police teams of four states had been conducting raids at across various locations for the last two years to arrest him. The state police had floated a reward of ₹2 lakh for information leading to his arrest. “Pawan also used to provide information of possible targets to the gang. He also revealed his involvement in several incidences of murder, attempt to murder, loot, and robbery. We expect to get more information from him during his police remand,” he said.
Over the last six months, the STF has arrested at least six members of the Kaushal gang, including Kaushal himself, and four members of the gang run by Basodi, who has allegedly been on the run for the past two years.
Sandeep Dhankhar, inspector, STF Rohtak, on Wednesday said they received information that Basodi’s sharpshooter was at Ismaila near Sampla in Rohtak and was planning a murder, after one of the targets had refused to pay an extortion amount to the gang.
“We arrested him from the bus stand on Tuesday night around 9pm when he was waiting to meet a gang member who was to supply him with weapons. He was in touch with a members of Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang who had recently joined hands with the Basodi gang,” he said.
The arrest was made based on a tip-off to the STF team that has been tracking the movement of the Basodi gang members.
Sources informed the police that one of the gang ‘s sharpshooters would be at Ismaila on Tuesday to meet someone. Six members of the STF were deployed in plain clothes at the bus stand, where they spotted Pawan.
“The teams were on alert and Pawan’s picture had been shared with them. He was arrested within 10 minutes of reaching the area,” Dhankhar said.