Chase From Gurgaon Ends In Andheri

Mumbai/Gurgaon: Sandeep Gadoli, Haryana's most wanted criminal and the leader of Gurgaon's biggest gang, was killed in a shootout inside a Mumbai hotel room on Sunday morning, cornered after a cat-and-mouse game with the cops for over three months since his cover was blown last November.
Gadoli (32) was tracked down to a ground-floor room at the Airport Metro Hotel in Andheri (east) by a Gurgaon crime branch team that decided to move in after a stake-out of the building.He received bullet injuries in his chest and leg during the shootout in which two cops were injured. Police said a woman was with him in the room and was taken into custody for questioning.
Two aides of the gangster, Manish Khurana and Deepak, were arrested from another room. Two more women, both foreign nationals, were detained for questioning. Police said they were all part of Gadoli's retinue as he kept shifting cities, and travelled with him in his SUV. The woman in Gadoli's room is from Gurgaon while the two foreign women are based in Jaipur, a police officer said.
A team of eight cops from the crime branch led by Pradyuman Singh monitored Gadoli's movements since Friday as he shifted from Bhiwadi to Jaipur and Mumbai.
On Saturday night, he checked into Andheri hotel that opened for business only three months ago. He arrived in his white Scorpio. That was the confirmation the cops needed. "Gadoli checked in as Rishabh Singh. He was allotted a room on the ground floor. Khurana and Deepak were on the first floor. The foreign nationals stayed in a third room," said a police official.
Around 11am on Sunday, three cops parked themselves in a narrow lane where the hotel is located.
"We were concerned Gadoli would try to jump out of the window," said inspector Amit Kauhar of the crime branch. "Five cops went into the hotel. At that point, they weren't aware Khurana and Deepak were there too. Head constable Paramjit Ahlavat knocked on Gadoli's door. When he opened, Gadoli saw the cops and tried to shut it. But the police team pushed their way in. There was an exchange of fire. A bullet grazed Ahlavat's forehead and another hurt constable Vikram Singh on his leg. Gadoli was taken to the Cooper Hospital where he was declared dead around 12.55 pm," Kauhar added.
Mumbai Police was reportedly kept in the dark about the whole operation. Gurgaon Police chief Navdeep Singh Virk told TOI, "It's a great achievement for Gurgaon Police. Our team executed the operation well. The arrested gang members will be produced in court where we will seek transit remand."
Gadoli was wanted in 36 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping and carried reward of Rs 1.25 lakh on his head. Cases against him date back to 1999 when he was involved in a robbery in Udyog Vihar, but efforts to arrest him were stepped up last year with a Special Investigation Team being formed.
Gadoli had covered his tracks for two years but a lucky break put the police on his trail. Last November, a Haryana resident was arrested in Mumbai for sexually harassing a model at Bandra bandstand. A Mumbai Police team came to Gurgaon to make inquiries. It turned out that the arrested man was Sonu, Gadoli's most trusted aide. Sonu had an "accomplice" who has slipped away. Cops were sure it was Gadoli. TOI had made these revelations in an exclusive report on November 5.
On October 4, Gadoli and his men were accused of killing Ashok, an aide of Gujjar. It triggered a series of street shootings in Gurgaon as the two gangs locked horns, with an aide of Gadoli getting injured and a property dealer believed to be close to Gadoli shot in full public view at a petrol pump the night before Diwali.