Notorious gangster Raju Basaudi arrested

Notorious gangster Raj Kumar alias Raju Basaudi wanted in over two dozen murder cases was arrested from the IGI airport in Delhi after he was extradited from Thailand, police said on Saturday.

Kumar, a resident of Basaudi village in Sonipat district, was wanted by police in Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi, they said.

The Haryana Police had announced a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh for information leading to his arrest.

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Haryana Police was instrumental in locating him in Bangkok with the help of police there. Kumar was brought to India Saturday morning and he was handed over to the STF by Interpol officials at 4 am at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, an official said.

"We have confirmed the identity of the accused as Raju Basaudi, involved in 29 murders, several robberies, kidnapping and extortion cases in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan," said B Satish Balan, DIG of STF Haryana.

"The accused was operating the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from Thailand for the past two years," he said.

Balan said during interrogation Kumar confessed his involvement in "several cases in four states".

Kumar was hiding in Thailand since 2017 after a sensational double murder of inmates in the police custody in Jhajjar district, he said.

A Look Out Circular for the accused was issued on the request of the Haryana police recently to nab the hardcore criminal, police said, adding he was arrested from the IGI Airport after an alert by the immigration officials there.

Kumar is closely associated with dreaded gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra, Anil Chippi, Akshay Palra and Naresh Sethi lodged in different jails, they said.

His close associate, Sandeep alias Kala of Jatheri, had escaped from the police custody a few days ago in Faridabad, they said.

Kumar accused runs an extortion gang that has created terror in Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Delhi, police said.

His gang uses social media platforms, especially Facebook, to intimidate their targets or claim their role in different crimes or to give false moral and ideological colours to their gruesome murders, they said.