Delhi’s most wanted Sonu Daryapur never used mobile phones, always on the move

Police captured Satyawan Sehrawat alias Sonu Dariyapur, the capital’s most wanted criminal, after a dramatic shootout and chase at Narela in outer Delhi on Thursday morning.

The Delhi police had narrowly missed capturing Sonu Dariyapur in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi three weeks ago after a special cell member came face-to-face with the gangster there.

Police captured Satyawan Sehrawat alias Sonu Dariyapur, the capital’s most wanted criminal, after a dramatic shootout and chase at Narela in outer Delhi on Thursday morning. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

The 15-member team, which was camping in Mandi to nab Sonu, couldn’t nab their target since Sonu managed to disappear before reinforcement could arrive.

Special cell officers said their team member was present in a market in Mandi when one of them bumped into Sonu Dariyapur. The policeman, who had Sonu’s old picture and CCTV grabs, took seconds to identify Delhi’s most wanted fugitive for whom special cell sleuths were camping in Delhi, Mandi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for four months.

The special cell officers knew that Sonu would noot hesitate from opening fire to protect himself, so he decided to wait for back-up before moving in on Sonu.

“But by the time other team members arrived, Sonu had sensed the danger and disappeared,” said a senior police officer, adding that the failed attempt did not discourage the team members and they continued the hunt for Delhi’s most wanted man.

The team members shared the information with their colleagues in Delhi while they continued following the vehicle. Sonu was driving alone. He was intercepted and surrounded by special cell personnel at NIT road in Delhi’s Narela.

Sonu was finally nabbed following a brief exchange of fire and two pistols and 17 cartridges were seized from him. During interrogation, Sonu revealed that he had hidden the car at his friend’s place in Mandi, but had decided to drive down in it to Delhi.

“Sonu never used a mobile phone and instead relied on online calling facilities. Tracking his movements was not easy. Also, Sonu never stayed at one hideout for more than a week a. His associates used to stay at different rented homes to mislead the police,” said Yadav.

Sonu was funding his expenses through extortion. In the last four months, Sonu had extorted money from as many as 100 businessmen in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, police said. His interrogation revealed that he was using the extortion money to fund his hideouts and other expenses.

“The fear of Sonu Dariyapur among businessmen was such that none of the businessmen who received extortion calls, filed any police complaint. The extortion amount ranged between R10,000 to R1 lakh,” said an investigator.