A criminal at 17, gangster Munna Bajrangi had 40 cases of murder and extortion against him

With over 40 cases of murder and extortion against him, Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi , 51, entered the world of crime at the tender age of 17.

Bajrangi was shot dead inside Baghpat jail Monday morning, barely a week after his wife Seema Singh addressed a press conference in the Uttar Pradesh capital accusing the Special Task Force (STF) of hatching a conspiracy to murder her husband.

He was first arrested for possessing illegal firearm during a brawl with a group of youngsters near his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur.

A few days after coming out of judicial custody in 1984, Bajrangi murdered a trader while trying to loot him.

Bajrangi, a class 5 dropout, got the patronage of local muscleman Gajraj Singh.

He later joined the gang of criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and gain notoriety as one of the most dreaded shooters of the gang.

He allegedly eliminated many people at his master’s behest.

His involvement was alleged in the sensational killing of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, who was considered to be a supporter of Ansari’s arch rival Brijesh Singh, in Ghazipur district on November 29, 2005.

Rai’s killing created Bajrangi’s terror across Uttar Pradesh as well as in other states.

Rai’s motorcade was attacked by a group of four shooters with AK-47 assault rifles. The shooters fired over 400 rounds of bullets killing Rai and his supporters. Rai had suffered over 70 bullet wounds.

After Rai’s murder, Bajrangi went underground and started operating from different places before being arrested from a Mumbai slum by the special cell of Delhi crime branch on October 29, 2009.

During his stay in jail, Bajrangi contested UP assembly election from Madiyahu constituency of Jaunpur in 2012. He, however, lost the election.

His wife Seema Singh contested the 2017 assembly election from the same constituency as an independent candidate but lost.

First Published: Jul 10, 2018 11:31 IST