Bunty Gang Hitman Arrestd
A day after 29-year-old Mohammad Israel, a hitman of Bunty gang, was arrested from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, he was produced in court. He was remanded to judicial custody where a test identification parade (TIP) would be conducted. A reward of Rs 50,000 was declared on the arrest of Israel. Israel was arrested from a ashram in Tiruppur near Coimbatore on Friday. Calling himself Ajay Singh, he was staying and working as a welder at the ashram for past two weeks. He had shaved his head and beard and told people at the ashram that he had come to the town to meditate. The cops seized an identity card which Israel had obtained while staying at the ashram. His arrest was first reported by TOI on Saturday. ‘‘The members of biker gang abandoned the house in Noida when their names appeared in newspapers and police declared reward for their arrest. Israel first went to Mumbai where he worked in a textile company and then came to Bareilly in UP to meet one of his relatives. From there he went to a friend’s place in Sultanpur in UP,’’ said the police. ‘‘With help of his contact in Sultanpur, Israel managed to flee to south India. In fact, earlier Bunty told him to spread the gang’s activities in south India as he felt that gang can get a lot money through extortion and robbery in this area,’’ said DCP (south) HGS Dhaliwal. ‘‘The mobiles of his family members and relatives were on surveillance. We noticed some of the calls were made from Coimbatore.
A police team was sent to Coimbatore and the numbers from where the calls were made traced to a PCO. When we showed picture of Israel to PCO owner he recognized him,’’ said an senior police officer. ‘‘We checked guest houses, hotels, dhabas and showed his photograph to various people. Finally, we received the information that Israel has been seen near the Coimbatore bus stand after which a police team rushed there and apprehended him. The team members interrogated him about his place of residence after which he broke down and revealed his real identity,’’ added Dhaliwal. Israel’s interrogation revealed he had joined Rama Chandra Mission in Tiruppur using pseudo name Ajay Singh.
He tried to look like a sadhu and started learning the local language. When cops apprehended him, he tried to mislead them by speaking in local dialect. The police said Israel was involved in more than 30 cases. He was working with Omprakash alias Bunty for the past seven years. Being, a well-trained driver, he could drive every vehicle. He was one of the most trusted men of Bunty. Cops said Israel shot Ashneet and Hardeep when the gang robbed a motorcycle from the duo in Amar Colony and later killed a bystander Sanjeev Suri. The police said Israel has told them the name of supplier who used to provide arms to Bunty. ‘‘We will seek his remand to probe his links with the gangster,’’ said a police officer.
The cops added that Israel’s elder brother, Yasin, was also a criminal. He was an associate of one Subrati, Prem and Jitender. They killed Yasin due to their differences in 1999. His another brother Mustaq, also a criminal, committed suicide by consuming poison in Greater Kailash police station. His third brother Nassrru alias Bhura is presently in jail in connection with a murder case of Pilukhwa.
