Convicted self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim's follower Aditya Insan, who carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, is among 13 dreaded criminals on the radar of Haryana Special Task Force (STF), police said.
The conviction of the Dera head in a 2002 rape case had triggered arson and violence across the state that claimed 36 lives and injured over 250 people last year.
"We had prepared a list of 20 most wanted criminals, active in several states, including Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and UT Chandigarh, of whom we have arrested four while gangster Balraj Bhatti was gunned down by our team in Noida in April," Satish Balan, Director General of Police (DIG) STF, told IANS.
Bhatti was the sharp shooter of dreaded gangster Sundar Bhatti.
"Sampat Nehra, who carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh was arrested by our commandos from Hyderabad this month. He is a sharp shooter of Lawrance Bishnoi gang, who threatened to kill Bollywood star Salman Khan over his alleged killing of Black Buck in Rajasthan. Nehra also did recce of Khan's house in Mumbai to execute their plan," Balan said.
Bishnoi is currently lodged in Rajasthan's Jodhpur jail.
"We have also arrested gangster Rajiv alias Bobby and Rohit alias Kali, both carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh each. Rajesh Bharti, his associates Sanjeet Vidhroh and two others, were killed in an gunfight this month with the Delhi Police in the Chhattarpur," Balan added.
"Our team has been looking for Jitender alias Gogi -- who carries a reward of Rs 4 lakh and hails from Alipur village in Delhi -- and several other criminals," Balan added.
Others on the STF's radar include Vickey Chittana, Sunil alias Chun, Kaushal, Amit Dagar and Vikram alias Pappla.
Balan said that Vinod Mithathal, who is wanted in several cases of heinous crimes including murder, carries Rs 5 lakh reward on his head and is the oldest criminal in Haryana.
He said Mithathal, who belongs to Bhiwani District, was declared Proclaimed Offender in 2010.
Inder Mohan alias Satte, Sulehdin -- both carrying reward of Rs 50,000 each --, among others are also on the STF's radar.
Satte and Sulehdin were involved in the killing of Sarpanch Santraj, his brother and others in Haryana's Palwal district.
The reconstituted special STF, which is headed by Inspector General Saurabh Singh has been functioning since early this year. The STF was disbanded around seven years ago by the then Congress government after the police unit faced extortion charges.
--IANS
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