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Haryana gangster Papla Gujjar gets life term for brutal murder of rival’s mother
Wrestler-turned-gangster faces 21 cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery and extortion in Haryana and Rajasthan
A Narnaul court on Tuesday sentenced gangster Vikram, alias Papla Gujjar, to life imprisonment for the murder of Bimla Devi, 65, a resident of his native Khairoli village, six years ago.
The gangster, who faces 21 cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery and extortion in Haryana and Rajasthan was presented before the Narnaul additional district and sessions judge Sudhir Jeevan under tight security around noon. The judge sentenced him to life and fined him ₹10,000.
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Ajay Choudhary, the lawyer appearing for victim Bimla Devi, said the court had convicted Gujjar on Monday. “I had sought death penalty but the court gave him life term. We respect the decision of the court. The forensic report of Bimla’s death confirms 23 bullet wounds,” he said.
Gangster had killed woman’s son, father, too
Gujjar is also accused of killing Bimla’s son Sandeep Fouji and her father, Sri Ram, in 2015 besides Bimla’s brother Mahesh in 2014, but the court acquitted him in the 2014 case due to lack of evidence.
The gangster was brought to the Narnaul jail in Mahendragarh district of Haryana from Rajasthan’s high-security jail in Ajmer on September 29.
The murder of Bimla Devi dates back to August 21, 2015, when assailants, led by Gujjar, shot her dead when she refused to a compromise in connection with the murder of her brother Mahesh and son Sandeep Fauji.
Gujjar and his accomplices were booked under Sections 148, 149, 302 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act for Bimla’s murder. The court acquitted six others in the case due to lack of evidence on April 12, 2018.
Avenged the killing of his mentor
Gujjar entered the world of crime in 2014. He wanted to be a wrestler and had started training under Shakti Gurjar, who later became his mentor.
His mentor had a rivalry with Sandeep Fauji and the latter had given a contract for Gujjar’s mentor’s killing to one Surender. He had been killed on February 4, 2014.
“Shakti Gurjar’s brother-in-law had asked Gujjar to avenge his mentor’s elimination by Sandeep Fauji. Gujjar joined a gang in 2014 and attacked Fauji’s mother, Bimla Devi, in March 2014 after barging into her house. Both her legs were broken,” a police spokesman said.
“Her father Sri Ram and brother Mahesh had come from their native village of Biharipuri to take her to hospital. Ram boarded the ambulance, while Mahesh was on a motorcycle. He was killed on the way to the hospital. Gujjar’s name figured in the case but he was acquitted for want of evidence,” he said.
He killed Sandeep, who had been arrested for Gurjar’s murder in January 2015, outside Narnaul court when he had come for securing bail. In August, the gangster killed Bimla. Three months later, he killed Sri Ram as well as he was witness to Bimla’s murder.
Gangster’s accomplices kill policeman
The gangster was arrested by the Mahendragarh police for four murders on February 12, 2016. His accomplices had fired at the police when he was being taken to a Narnaul court on September 5, 2017, killing a policeman.
He managed to escape from police custody, but his brother Mintu was arrested and remains in jail.
Rajasthan Police arrested him this year
A special emergency response team of the Rajasthan Police arrested the dreaded gangster from a house at Kolhapur in Maharashtra in January this year.
His arrest had come one-and-a-half years after he had escaped following a jailbreak amid police firing from Rajasthan’s Behror police station where he was being held in Alwar district.
His accomplices, armed with AK-47 rifles, had freed him from Behror police station.
A team of 26 policemen, including commandos of the Rajasthan Police, had arrested him along with a woman friend.
On September 6, 2019, Gujjar was arrested by the Rajasthan Police from the Delhi-Jaipur highway, but he had hoodwinked the police by identifying himself as Sahil.
