CoBRA force constable among four arrested in Delhi

A CRPF constable attached with the elite anti-Naxal battalion 'CoBRA' was among four persons arrested in Outer Delhi for their alleged involvement in a series of crimes orchestrated by their gang leaders lodged in Bhondsi Jail in Gurgaon, police said on Friday.

A CRPF constable attached with the elite anti-Naxal battalion 'CoBRA' was among four persons arrested in Outer Delhi for their alleged involvement in a series of crimes orchestrated by their gang leaders lodged in Bhondsi Jail in Gurgaon, police said on Friday.

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Narender Kumar Yadav (23), Sandeep Chhikara (22), Dharambir Lochab (22) and Pradeep Sehrawat (18) were apprehended from Kanjhawala Chowk on Wednesday on a tip-off, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Chhaya Sharma said.

Yadav, who has undergone ITI training in electrical trade from the prestigious PUSA Institute, is a constable in CRPF from 2006 and presently posted in Gaya in Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), the anti-Naxalite wing of the paramilitary force.

With their arrests, she said, investigators have smashed a gang of inter-state criminals of Sandeep Chitaniya-Manjeet Gang operating from Bhondsi Jail.

Investigators also solved five cases of attempt to murder, firing and demand of ransom committed in Gurgaon (Haryana), Bulandshahar (UP), Mathura (UP) and Pilani, Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan).

Three country made pistols with five live cartridges and a motorcycle used in commission of crime have been recovered.

"We received an input that the gang leaders have cultivated a group of sharp shooters to operate in Delhi, Harayana, UP and Rajasthan. Despite being lodged in jail, they managed weapons for sharp shooters to extort money and eliminate witnesses in their pending cases," Sharma said.

"It also came to light that these criminals were planning to escape from police custody while being escorted to courts," she said.

Yadav alias Fauji (soldier) has known Surender alias Neetu Dabodhia, one of the gang leaders for the past eight years.

"Yadav met with an accident in Rohtak then and Dabodhia helped him. Since then Yadav was in contact with him and repeatedly visited Bhondsi Jail to meet him. In this process, he also introduced Yadav to Chitaniya, Manoj Bakarwara, a notorious car thief, and Manjeet," Sharma said.

On November 21, she said, the gang assembled in Dadri to proceed to Pilani to target a person. The next day, Yadav came to Pilani in his uniform.

While Yadav remained in the car, others went to target the owner of a saree showroom, Sharma said.