Gangster who once shot deputy collector over illegal sand mining held: STF

A gangster linked with sand mining mafia and accused of opening gunfire on a deputy collector in 2006 was arrested here on Sunday by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police, officials said.

Brajanad Nagar (53), is a native of Faridabad in Haryana and was held at around 4 pm in Sector 168 by the Noida unit of the STF with the support of the local force from Expressway Police Station, a senior officer said.

"Working on a case involving gangsters of the region, we had got a tip-off about Nagar coming to the area to meet somebody. A trap was laid and Nagar arrested," Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said.

"Nagar works for the Randeep Bhati gang and has been previously booked under the Gangsters Act. He is also accused of illegal sand mining on the banks of the Yamuna river and also for selling plots along the river bank illegally," Mishra said.

Nagar had sold plots along the river bank and got their registries done for at least 200 gullible people, as per preliminary information, the STF officer said.

In 2006, the then deputy collector of the area had visited the Yamuna floodplains to stop illegal sand mining. Nagar had opened fire at the deputy collector, who had survived the attack and an FIR was lodged against the gangster.

"That case is still pending in the court," Mishra said.

He said that during Nagar's arrest, his vehicle was impounded and some documents were recovered.

"The documents detail transactions related to gangsters Randeep Bhati, mining mafia Sanjay Momnathan, Satpal Mujhedi, etc." Mishra said.