Delhi: Police arrest gangster Sodhi under MACOCA

Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested gangster Surendra Sodhi alias Shammi under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MACOCA) Act, 1999 as several criminal cases were filed against him in Delhi, Mumbai and Haryana.

MACOCA Act is a law enacted by Maharashtra in 1999 to combat organised crime and terrorism.

According to police, Sodhi is a high-profile criminal who is fond of driving expensive cars, visiting five-star hotels and partying in the upscale bars and pubs of Delhi and Mumbai. He is active in Shakarpur and adjoining areas of Trans Yamuna.

Right from his school days, Sodhi was involved in several cases of assault and he was arrested in four such cases between 1990 and 1992. He was also arrested in an assault case along with notorious gangster Hemu Gujjar, who was also his classmate in school.

In 2000, Sodhi along with his associates Devender Rana, Satbir Rana, Rakesh Bhandari, and Yashbir Fauji helped notorious criminal Bunty Gujjar in escaping from the custody of Uttar Pradesh police from PS Murad Nagar area, wherein, they looted the service weapons, including two rifles and one carbine from the cops. Subsequently, he was arrested for this crime and remained in jail for about one year.