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Wanted gangster Kala Rana in Ambala STF custody
Kala Rana, who had fled to Thailand in 2017-18 using a forged passport, was extradited to India and arrested by the Delhi Police on his arrival in India at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on March 1
Wanted in over 30 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and criminal intimidation across Haryana, one of north India’s most-dreaded gangsters, Virender Partap, alias Kala Rana, 28, is now in the custody of the special task force (STF), Ambala Range.
Rana, who had fled to Thailand in 2017-18 using a forged passport, 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 was brought on production remand to Ambala on Friday and presented before a court that sent him to eight-day police remand, inspector Parveen Kumar of STF, Ambala Range, said.
“He has been brought to Ambala in connection with a murder case lodged at the Ambala City police station on November 23, 2018, when some men had shot dead a jeweller at his shop and injured his employee,” Kumar said.
Rana, a native of Karnal’s Aungad village, along with several others, was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in this murder case, along with multiple others, and carried a reward of ₹1 lakh on his head.
As per case files, three armed men had barged into a jewellery shop, owned by Sunil Kumar, in Ambala City’s Sarai Bazaar on November 23, 2018. The shop, located in the narrow alleys of the old city, is surrounded by several jewellery shops.
“The assailants attacked the owner and dragged him towards the exit gate. Suddenly, Kumar grabbed one of them and the employees stepped-in for help, only to be shot by an attacker. The men shot dead Kumar and injured one of the employees, Bharat Bhushan. They fled along with some other men standing outside, while firing in the air in the market,” the FIR reads.
The uproar over the murder continues for weeks, as the merchants staged protests against police inaction. Investigators said nine men have been arrested in the case since then, while one remains on the run.
Also wanted in 20 Yamunanagar cases
Police officials said Kala was also named in several criminal cases in Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi, but most, 20, were lodged in Yamunanagar, including the murder of a local businessman and threats to the CIA unit in-charge, both in 2021.
STF IG Sateesh Balan, who was key in Rana’s arrest by the Thailand Police in Bangkok, said, “After his remand gets over in Ambala, he will be taken into remand for the cases registered in Yamunanagar.”
Ambala superintendent of police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said, “He will also be taken into remand for interrogation into two more Ambala cases – the Barara murder case of 2013 and the double murder in Mahesh Nagar in January this year. One gangster each, affiliated to Bhupi Rana gang, were shot dead in both cases.”
A key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and Kala Jathedi syndicate, Rana was running his network in India from Bangkok.
