Thug hurt in encounter, held

Suspected to be aide of Neeraj gangs

New Delhi: A 24-year-old man, suspected to be a member of Neeraj Bawana and Neeraj Bhanja gangs, was arrested following an encounter with police in which he was injured on Thursday, the police said.

The encounter took place in front of the Sarai Kale Khan Bus Stand located on the Ring Road leading towards Ashram in southeast Delhi, they said.

On the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, police received information that the accused, Saddam Hussain, was passing through Ring Road from Pragati Maidan side towards Ashram Chowk, Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern range) Devesh Chandra Srivastava said.

It was also informed that he was going to Sangam Vihar to meet his accomplices, the officer said. A trap was laid and after he was spotted, the Ring Road leading towards Ashram (infront of Sarai Kale Khan Bus Stand) was blocked to apprehend him, he said.

The accused noticed the blockade and tried to flee but his motorcycle slipped on the footpath, the officer said. He was asked to surrender but, the accused got up and fired on the police team deployed at barricades.

A sub-inspector fired at Hussain and a bullet hit his left leg below the knee, Srivastava said. Injured Hussain was overpowered and a country-made pistol along with two live cartridges was recovered from his possession and two used cartridges were recovered from the spot, the officer said.

Hussain's accomplices had been arrested earlier. On July 25, two scooter-borne men had fired four shots at the house of Vijay Singh in Aliganj, Pillanji, he said.

One of the bullets hit the right heel of Singh, who was sitting outside, the JCP said, adding he was rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre. An FIR was registered at the Kotla Mubarakpur Police Station in connection with the matter.

After being discharged from the hospital, Singh told police that on the day he was shot at, someone named Naveen Bali alias Naveen Bhanja, nephew of criminal Neeraj Bawana, had called him around 3 pm and demanded protection money, he said.

The person on the phone also threatened him of dire consequences. Police learnt about one Sunny, a resident of Aliganj, Kotla Mubarak Pur, who had provided information about the Singh to Subeg alias Shibbu, who is an accomplice of Naveen Bali alias Naveen Bhanja.

Bhanja, based on the information, had placed an extortion call to Singh and to intimidate him tasked his accomplices Saddam Hussain and a juvenile to attack the victim with firearms, the joint commissioner of police said.

The police team raided potential hideouts of the accused and finally arrested Sunny from Aliganj. During interrogation, Sunny disclosed that the assault on the victim was carried out by Hussain and one another.

Sunny also disclosed that Subek Singh, who is an accomplice of Naveen Bali alias Bhanja, had passed on the information about Singh to him.

Accordingly, raids were conducted in search of these persons and the juvenile was apprehended from Jangpura from the rented accommodation of Hussain.

After his apprehension, the juvenile revealed that he had carried the crime on the directions of Subek Singh. Subsequently, Singh was arrested on August 1 from Mussoorie. Naveen Bali is presently lodged at the Mandoli jail.