Gurugram: Gang snatches 2 prisoners from cops, one held later

GURUGRAM: A group of men fired at a van and snatched two murder accused from the clutches of a police team in Faridabad on Saturday. However, one of the two prisoners and two men who had come to free him were arrested following a brief chase and exchange of fire. The other murder accused managed to escape.
Sandeep and Dhan Singh were among five inmates of Bhondsi jail who had been taken to a Faridabad court earlier in the day for a hearing. They were on their way back when their accomplices came in two vehicles and attacked the police van near Hanuman Chowk in Faridabad. An assistant sub-inspector, Jitender, was injured in the cross-firing, but was stated to be out of danger.
Faridabad commissioner of police KK Rao said the police team was caught unawares when the gang came in two vehicles and sprayed bullets on the van carrying the prisoners.
“The men who had come to free the prisoners were stopped at a check-post,” said Rao. They left the vehicles and started running towards a field. After a brief exchange of fire, Dhan Singh, and two of his accomplices — Kapil and Naresh Sethi — were nabbed. Sandeep and a few others managed to flee. At least 10 pistols and 200 live cartridges were found on them.
Sandeep, an accused in at least 12 cases of murder, had been in jail since March 2012. He was serving life term in one of these cases. Police said Sandeep was active in Sonipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar and parts of Delhi, and had been lodged in Hisar central jail.
When in jail, Sandeep came in contact with gangster Anil Chitte, who was later killed after being released in 2015. He was also in touch with members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. “Sandeep and his accomplices were operating gangs from inside the jail,” said a police source. It was only last month that Sandeep was shifted to Bhondsi jail. “His gang thrived on extortions from toll operators and businessmen,” the source said.
On December 31, an undertrial from Bhondsi jail had managed to escape after spraying pepper into the eyes of policemen outside Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
Naresh (33) and a few other prisoners from Bhondsi jail had been taken to Safdarjung for a check-up. Sub-inspector Shyam Pool had just stepped out of the police van, when three men came running and fired in the air. Naresh sprayed pepper into the eyes of Shyam and escaped with the help of his accomplices.