The Delhi Police on Tuesday said they had arrested a 40-year-old alleged gangster from Uttar Pradesh (UP), who along with five of his accomplices, had shot dead a close associate of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar on January 6.
The suspect, Girdhari alias Kanhaiya Vishwakarma, 40, was nabbed on Monday from outer Delhi’s Shahabad Dairy, where he had come to find a safe hideout. A sophisticated pistol, with one cartridge, was recovered from Vishwakarma, who has been involved in at least 22 crimes, including seven murder cases, in Uttar Pradesh. He belongs to Dhruv Kumar Singh alias Kuntoo Singh’s gang that has a rivalry with Mukhtar Ansari’s group, said additional deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Ghanshyam Bansal.
On January 6, Vishwakarma along with associates Ravi, Ankur, Bandhan and two others had gunned down Ansari’s alleged henchman, Ajit Singh, near Kathauta crossing, under Vibhuti Khand police station limits in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar. Singh was in a sports utility vehicle (SUV) with his associate Mohar Singh when bike-borne assailants opened indiscriminate fire on the vehicle on January 6. Singh was killed while Mohar and a passerby were critically injured, the police said.
Ajit Singh, apart from being Ansari’s close associate, was also a key witness in the murder of UP’s former legislator Sharvesh Singh alias Simpu in July 2013, the police said. Ansari is presently lodged in a jail in Punjab’s Ropar.
{{/usCountry}}Ajit Singh, apart from being Ansari’s close associate, was also a key witness in the murder of UP’s former legislator Sharvesh Singh alias Simpu in July 2013, the police said. Ansari is presently lodged in a jail in Punjab’s Ropar.
{{/usCountry}}Additional DCP Bansal said that on January 11 (Monday), the outer-north district’s special staff team received information regarding the movement of a man with an illegal firearm in Shahabad Dairy area. The team processed the information and caught the man, whose identity was established as Girdhari alias Kanhaiya Vishwakarma, a suspect wanted by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
“Vishwakarma’s interrogation revealed that apart from Ajit Singh’s murder, he was also involved in the murder case of a bus conductor, Ritesh Singh, who was also believed to be associated with Mukhtar Ansari. Ritesh was murdered in 2019 in Varanasi. The UP Police had declared R1 lakh reward on Ajit Singh’s arrest in that case,” said additional DCP Bansal.
Police said that Vishwakarma entered the crime world in 2001 by committing a robbery. In 2005, he joined Kuntoo Singh’s gang, became his hitman and began committing murder, they said.
“Vishwakarma last came out of jail in 2016. He was also booked in UP under the Gangsters Act,” said Bansal, adding that the UP Police have been informed about the arrest.