Man who jumped parole held after shootout

A 49-year-old man has been arrested in Delhi for alleged involvement in armed robbery and attempt to murder, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip off, the special cell of the Delhi Police nabbed Ajay Bidhuri after a gunfight near Mehrauli Badarpur Road on Saturday night, the police said.

Bidhuri, alias Israel, who is a resident of Ghaziabad, was absconding for the past 10 months after jumping parole, officials said.

The suspect, who was previously found involved in more than 20 cases, was a member of a biker gang, led was Om Prakash. The group had committed several sensational armed robberies in 2008, according to officials.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said Bidhuri had jumped parole last July and was now planning to commit armed robbery in the National Capital Region during the coronavirus lockdown.

Around 7 pm on Saturday, Bidhuri was arriving on a motorcycle and he whipped out his pistol while seeing the police and threatened to fire.

When asked to surrender, he fired a shot towards police personnel, who retaliated, but no one was hurt. Later, Bidhuri was overpowered and disarmed, Kushwah said.

A single-shot pistol with three live cartridges was recovered from him at the time of his arrest, the DCP said.

Om Prakash and his associate Rajesh died in an exchange of fire with Delhi Police on August 25, 2008, but Bidhuri managed to escape but he was subsequently arrested.

He was convicted in four cases and remained in jail since then till June 2019, but was released on parole and has been absconding since then, police said.