: Wanted for allegedly masterminding the killing of ex-MLA Bharat Singh and half a dozen other murders, notorious gangster Manjeet Mahal was arrested by the Delhi Police on Thursday.
Mahal, 45, has been in the crime world for over two decades. He was carrying a reward of Rs. 50,000 on his arrest, said the police.
Several units of the Delhi Police had been hot on his heels ever since he allegedly masterminded the gunning down of Mr. Singh in March last year. While most suspects in the case were arrested, Mahal had managed to keep the police away from his trail.
He was finally arrested from Sector 24, Dwarka, around 1 p.m. on Thursday. The Delhi Police Special Cell, which nabbed Mahal, claimed it had been working on his whereabouts for the last five months.
Tipped off
“We received inputs that Mahal was roaming around in Delhi-NCR to procure sophisticated weapons for eliminating his rivals. Traps were laid in Najafgarh, Dwarka, Gurgaon and Chhatarpur, and the accused was arrested,” said P.S. Kushwaha, DCP (Special Cell).
The officer said Mahal was found to be in possession of a loaded pistol and 52 cartridges at the time of his arrest.
Mahal has also been named in about two dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and Arms Act.
Murder in Chhawla
Prominent among them was the murder of one Sunil in south-west Delhi’s Chhawla on December 21 last year. Mahal, along with his associates, had allegedly opened fire at their rival Suraj Bhan and his friend Sunil when they were sitting at Bhan’s real estate office. While Bhan had managed to escape being hit, Sunil died in the firing.
A native of Najafgarh’s Mitraon, a village infamous for gang wars, Mahal had come in contact with notorious gangster Balraj over two decades ago. Once Balraj was killed in a gang war, Mahal took over the gang.
