Encounter in South Delhi: Gangster Rajesh Bharti, 3 criminals, killed by police

Rajesh Bharti, who was killed by police along with three gang members in the South Delhi encounter, was one of the city’s most wanted criminals and had at least 25 cases of murder, extortion, car jacking and robbery against him

Police shot dead one of the city’s most-wanted criminals, Rajesh Bharti, and three of his associates in one of the Capital’s deadliest gunfights in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur on Saturday.

The Ford Endeavour vehicle Rajesh Bharti was travelling in when the encounter with Delhi Police broke out. Police recovered illegal semi-automatic pistols from the car. (ANI/Twitter)

Eight policemen, two of whom are critical, and one of Bharti’s associates were also injured in the exchange, police said.

“About 150 rounds were fired including 50 those were shot by the accused,” said deputy commissioner of police (special cell), Sanjeev Yadav, who led the operation.

Bharti, a resident of Jind in Haryana who led a group named ‘Kranti gang’ and is accused of multiple cases of murder, extortion and abduction, carried a reward of ?1 lakh for his arrest.

The operation started in the morning, Yadav said, when a team of 30 cops from the special cell laid a trap for Bharti in Chandan Hola village in Chhatarpur.

“The informer said six to seven men would arrive in Kharak village in Chandanhola area of Chhatarpur between 6 am to 1 pm, in two cars. It was known that the men will be led by Bharti. His right-hand man Sanjeet Vidrohi will accompany with other aide Umesh, we were told. All the members of the gang were suspected to be armed,” deputy commissioner of the special cell Pramod Kushwah said.

After a hot pursuit through the narrow streets of Chhatarpur for about a kilometre, three of the police cars managed to sandwich the criminals’ vehicles, forcing them to swerve off the main road into the interiors of the south Delhi village, said Yadav.

By then, the police had called for back-up forces and around 12 police vehicles managed to corner Bharti and his associates near SNS Farms, said Kushwah. But when they asked the criminals to step out of the car and surrender, Bharti and the others allegedly opened fire, triggering a hail of bullets from the police, he added.

“The cell executed the operation in a professional manner and with adequate preparation. The police first asked the accused to surrender but they opened unprovoked firing on police team. In retaliation, the special cell team fired upon them, leaving four of team killed, and one injured,” Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik said.

Kushwah said Bharti and his associates were armed with four pistols and one revolver. Police didn’t reveal any information about Bharti’s injured associate or the other men in the car.

The three other men who were shot dead in the encounter were indentified as Sanjeet Vidrohi, Umesh Don, and Viresh Rana. Vidrohi was allegedly Bharti’s right-hand man and also carried a reward of R 1lakh for his arrest. Umesh allegedly worked for Bharti and had a reward of R 50,000 announced for him. Rana, alias Vicky, was a resident of Ghewra in Delhi, police said.

One of the eight injured policemen, a head constable, sustained four bullet injuries, one in his neck, and was critical. Four other policemen sustained two bullet injuries and were also under treatment.

“Bharti was leading interstate criminal gangs. The gang was mainly based in Haryana but had been off late active in parts of south Delhi,” Patnaik said.