Gangster who planned to kill AAP MLA, cop arrested

Police said the accused Sombir was reportedly a member of Haryana’s Rajesh Nahri gang and Delhi’s Manjeet Mahal-Nafe Mantri gang, and was wanted in several criminal cases including murder and robbery.

Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday arrested a 30-year-old shooter, who was reportedly planning to kill Naresh Balyan, AAP MLA from Uttam Nagar, and also the deputy superintendent of Sonipat jail.

Arrest-handcuffs.

Police said the accused Sombir was reportedly a member of Haryana’s Rajesh Nahri gang and Delhi’s Manjeet Mahal-Nafe Mantri gang, and was wanted in several criminal cases including murder and robbery.

“Sombir was wanted in several cases including a murder case, wherein he and an associate Punit Yadav had shot dead a property dealer, Bijender Kumar, on November 8 over a dispute,”said Ramgopal Naik, DCP (crime).

Naik said the accused was planning to kill Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan. “He was planning to kill Balyan as he thought the MLA was favouring the rival party on a property dispute matter. Deputy SP of Panipat Jail was also a target, because he had reportedly taken action against Sombir’s mischievous activities in Jhajjar Jail,” he said.

During investigation into the murder of Bijender Kumar, Sombir was identified as the main suspect. With the help of local intelligence, his location was traced.

The police then received a tip-off that Sombir would go to Dwarka Sector 16A on March 6 to possess illegal weapons. “A trap was laid by policemen in mufti near the spot at about 4.50 pm. His car was intercepted under metro line, Dwarka Sector 16A. He tried to flee, but the team overpowered him,” Naik said.

During questioning, Sombir said that he was first arrested in 2000 by Haryana police in Sonipat, who booked him under Arms Act, when he was 15 years old. In 2003, he was arrested by Delhi Police in a case of attempt to murder and in a case of car-jacking reported from Gurgaon.

In 2004, he and his associates shot dead a man from Bahadurgarh, Haryana, over personal enmity. Since then, he has been arrested in several cases. “He was declared as a proclaimed offender by the court. We have informed other states about his arrest. Further investigation in the matter is on,” a police officer said.