With Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promising a crackdown against mafia, the Uttar Pradesh Police last month released a list containing the names of heads of 66 criminal gangs, and top officials say multiple teams are on the ground looking for the absconding accused and also keeping an eye on those on bail.
Three of the listed gangsters are now dead — Anil Dujana and Aditya Rana alias Ravi killed in police encounters, and Atiq Ahmad killed in Prayagraj by assailants posing as journalists.
Atiq Ahmad’s brother Ashraf, whose name did not figure in the list, was also gunned down with him.
Among the rest 63 named in the list, Harwinder Singh alias Jugnu Walia, a close aide of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was apprehended recently while four are absconding, 20 are out on bail, and 38 are lodged in different jails.
Singh was arrested by a team of the anti-gangster task force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police, officials said.
He was a wanted criminal and the Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his arrest, Director General of Police of Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday.
“In a major breakthrough, AGTF arrested Harwinder S@ Jugnu Walia, a close aide of Mukhtar Ansari. He was linked in a number of criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, etc,” Yadav tweeted.
Meanwhile, senior Uttar Pradesh Police officials said the government is monitoring all criminals whose names are there in the list.
“Our teams are on the lookout for the criminals and if they fire at the police instead of surrendering, they will definitely face retaliation,” a police officer said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)