Bihar: Notorious criminal Fauji found dead

PATNA: Notorious criminal Shankar Dayal Singh alias Fauji was found dead in the riverine area of Ganga under Revelganj police station area of Saran district on Sunday. The spot from where Fauji’s body was recovered is near Bhojpur’s Barhara police station area.

Fauji was one of the most wanted criminals for Patna and Bhojpur police. More than a dozen criminal cases were lodged against him with different police stations in both the districts. Patna police had an encounter with him and his associates in diara area of Maner in 2014.

Saran SP Harkishore Rai said preliminary inquiry indicated that he was murdered somewhere else before the criminals dumped his body in the riverine belt. “Fauji had several stabbing wounds on his body, including neck,” he said.

Bhojpur SP Aditya Kumar said the criminal got the name Fauji as he was an armyman and had fled his unit with a AK-47 rifle. He used the weapon in committing crime.

“Eight cases were lodged against him in Bhojpur alone. He operated between Patna and Bhojpur and used to grab land from poor farmers living on the banks of the Ganga. He also used to extort money from those involved in sand mining,” the SP said, adding police had been trying to nab him for a long time. Kumar said Fauji was called by a few men from his residence at Farna village under the Barhara police station area on Saturday night.

He said Fauji was active in crime world for more than 15 years.