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Threatening mining contractor in Yamunanagar: Gangster Kala Rana in STF remand again
Eight days after remaining in the custody of special task force (STF) of the Haryana Police in connection with the murder of an Ambala-based goldsmith, dreaded gangster Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana was on Friday remanded again, this time for threatening a mining contractor and a BJP leader for extortion in Yamunanagar
Eight days after remaining in the custody of special task force (STF) of the Haryana Police in connection with the murder of an Ambala-based goldsmith, dreaded gangster Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana was on Friday remanded again, this time for threatening a mining contractor and a BJP leader for extortion in Yamunanagar.
The gangster was presented before a Yamunanagar court and sent to five-day STF remand, inspector Parveen Sharma said.
“He can be interrogated in two other cases of Yamunanagar, being probed by the Ambala Range STF – the murder of a local merchant, Raghunath Prajapati in August 2020 and threatening mining contractors through an Instagram post in the same month,” the inspector told HT.
The gangster, named in over 30 cases of heinous crimes, had fled to Thailand in 2017-18 using a forged passport and was extradited to India and arrested by the Delhi Police on his arrival in India at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on March 1. He is a native of Aungad village in Karnal and now carries an address of Laxmi Garden Colony in Yamunanagar.
According to case files, Rana had allegedly phoned a mining contractor Manoj Wadhwa, a resident of Karnal in October 2020, demanding partnership in his business. Wadhwa told the police that he received many calls on his phone from Rana who threatened to kill his family if his demand was not fulfilled.
Wadhwa had also demanded security for himself, his family and family partner Veerbhan Wadhwa. The contractor was earlier with the INLD and had switched over to the BJP in October 2019.
Rana’s accomplice and an associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Sandeep alias Kala Jatheri had in November last year, confessed to the STF about his involvement in two other cases.
Investigators had then said that Jatheri sent shooters to kill Raghunath, an electronic appliances dealer at his shop on Rana’s call, after he failed to fulfil his extortion demands.
The duo also posted a video on Rana’s Instagram profile seeking extortion money from mining contractors in Yamunanagar. The said video was reported by the cyber cell in August 2020.
