Man wanted for nine murders held in Uttarakhand

The police on Tuesday arrested 23-year-old Pawan Nehra, a wanted gangster, from Haldwani in Uttarakhand for his alleged involvement in nine murders, including a

The police on Tuesday arrested 23-year-old Pawan Nehra, a wanted gangster, from Haldwani in Uttarakhand for his alleged involvement in nine murders, including a triple murder in Basai this August.

HT Image

The police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to his arrest after he had fled the spot. Nine of his close aides, however, were arrested following the incident.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that Nehra had shot dead three people over in a feud over a 1,000 square yard plot in Basai. “Joni Kataria, who is in jail in a murder case, had an ancestral plot in Basai, which was usurped by Nehra’s aide and this led to a feud. The opposite gang had joined hands with late Ashok Rathi’s group and killed Nehra’s right-hand man about two years ago. In retaliation, they murdered nine people of the other gang,” he said.

Two of his aides, Sawan alias JD, of Jhajjar, and Monu alias Sukha, of Rohtak, were also arrested with Nehra, said police, adding they were planning to rob a vehicle when they were caught. The police recovered three mobile phones, three internet devices and three countrymade pistols from him and two of his gang members.

Sangwan said Nehra was released on bail from Bhondsi jail last September. He had been arrested in connection with robbery cases and he had been on the run since. He is involved in hundreds of cases of loot, robbery, gang wars, attempt to murder, murder and kidnapping. He was leading a gang in Basai and had recruited more than 70 members.

Nehra had allegedly started making extortion calls to businessmen in Gurugram and had opened fire at a few places when they refused to pay.

On August 20, around 5pm, unidentified armed men had shot dead two people after cornering them in an empty plot near Wings Apartment in Bhawani Enclave. Another person was shot dead in Basai village within a few minutes of the first shooting.

The police had recovered CCTV footage in which several suspects were seen chasing one of the victims on scooters and later, shooting the victim. Sangwan said that after shooting two of the gang members, they followed another into the residential society and killed him.