A 40-year-old man, an alleged member of Neetu Dabodia gang, was arrested on Sunday morning in east Delhi’s Gazipur following a brief exchange of fire, the police said.
More than a dozen of rounds of fire were exchanged during Sunday’s encounter. The arrested accused, identified as Vinod alias Dada, a resident of Haryana’s Goela Kalan village, is a sharpshooter, they said, adding that he sustained injury in the incident.
Based on a tip-off received by the police, a trap was laid near a paper market in Gazipur where Vinod and another man were spotted on a bike. They were coming from Sapera Basti, a senior police officer said. The two men were identified and asked to surrender. However, they opened fire at the police, he said.
The accused did not stop firing despite repeated warning. The police team then fired in retaliation, during which Vinod sustained a bullet injury on his left leg.
However, his accomplice, identified as Ashok Pradhan, continued to fire and also managed to flee the spot, the senior officer also said.
Vinod was however, overpowered and rushed to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, he said.
A semi-automatic pistol along with six live cartridges were seized from Vinod. The bike they were travelling on was found to be stolen and has been seized, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P.S. Kushwah said.
A case has been registered against Vinod and his accomplice Ashok, Mr, Kushwah also said.
The police further said that Ashok carries a reward of ₹2 lakh bounty on his head.
During interrogation, it was revealed that Vinod was arrested for the first time in 2001 in connection with an attempt-to-murder case during which he came in contact with Neetu Dabodia and Ashok, the police also said.
Twelve cases
Mr. Kushwas said that Vinod had been involved in more than 12 cases, including dacoity, robbery, murder and extortion. The police said Vinod had procured weapons from Madhya Pradesh to eliminate members of Neerja Bawana gang for avenging the murder of one of his accomplices.