Bawaria gang member wanted in string of dacoities nabbed by UP STF

The Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a Bawaria gang member wanted in a string of cases, including dacoity and murder, across the state, officials said here on Sunday.

Rajkishor Bahelia alias Kaale Pradhan (55) was held around 11.30 pm in Ghaziabad's Sahibabad area by the Noida unit of the STF, the officials said.

Bahelia, carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his arrest, was most recently wanted in sensational cases of dacoities in Lucknow, Barabanki and his home district Farrukhabad, a senior official said.

"Our field unit was constantly tracking him since the dacoities. On the basis of a reliable input that he would be coming to Mopura, in Ghaziabad, on a motorcycle to meet somebody on Saturday, we planned an operation and trapped him," Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Rajkumar Mishra said.

A firearm, some ammunition and five kg of cannabis were seized from his possession during the arrest, and his motorcycle was impounded, he said.

"During interrogation Bahelia, who had a hideout in Delhi's Najafgarh, told the STF about his involvement in nearly two dozen cases of dacoities, several of them on national highways," he said.

Bahelia revealed that he had got into crime at a young age of 17 when in his village in Farrukhabad he joined a local gang that targeted trucks and other vehicles, the official said.

He has 21 cases registered against him at police stations in Eta, Farrukhabad, Kaushambi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Saharanpur, Gonda, Jalaun, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow and Barabanki, the DSP said.

The cases include those of robbery, murder, attempt to murder.

A new case has been lodged against him in Ghaziabad wherein he has been booked under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the Arms Act, Mishra said.