Jaipur: Rajasthan’s most wanted gangster Papla Gurjar who had escaped from police custody in a daring escape and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head was arrested by police from Maharashtra on Thursday.
In a big embarrassment for the Rajasthan government, Papla alias Vikram Gurjar had escaped from a police station in Behror in Alwar district in September 2019.
Gurjar had been arrested by a patrol team at around 3.30 am on September 6. He identified himself as Sahil and police did not realise that he was a wanted criminal. Police seized Rs 31.9 lakh cash from him and he was brought to Behror police station.
In a daring escape, Gurjar’s accomplices reached the police station at 8.30 am. They opened fire with AK-47 rifles at the police personnel in the police station in broad daylight and freed Gurjar from the lock-up and escaped. The SOG was investigating the matter. Gurjar had four cases against him in Rajasthan and police announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head.
Rajasthan DGP ML Lather told the media that police received information about Gurjar’s whereabouts and a police team led by additional SP Siddharth Sharma had been sent to Kolhapur to verify the information about Gurjar. The police team had been camping in Kolhapur for the past one week.
Police tracked the house in which Papla was living. They collected information from different sources such as gym owners, dhaba owners and Rajasthani residents. Police went through CCTV footage installed in the area to monitor Gurjar's movements, said Lather.
Police found that Gurjar was living with a woman friend who has also been arrested. He had adopted the alias Udal Singh and had even got an Aadhar card issued under this name.
The police team went in on Wednesday midnight and surrounded Gurjar’s house. The gangster tried to escape and jumped off the building, injuring himself. Armed police commandos surrounded him and arrested him. The police have brought Gurjar and his woman friend to Jaipur where he will be interrogated.
The Rajasthan police have been searching for Gurjar since the last one and a half years. Around 30 of his gang members have been arrested so far by police. Police also launched a massive hunt for him with the help of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana police after his escape but were unsuccessful in tracing him.
The publishers permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)