Dreaded gangster Neetu Dabodia had adopted a unique modus operandi to evade arrest by working as a personal bodyguard of a Bathinda-based businessman.
He was on the run after killing a Delhi Police head constable, Ram Kishan, in 2012. Police said last year, on the intervening night of November 25 and 26, Surender Malik alias Neetu met with his his associates Vikram alias Paras, Alok Gupta and Ram Niwas alias Kala after a rendezvous with his girlfriend in Pooth Khurd in Outer Delhi.
“On their way back to Haryana, head constable Ram Niwas at Jonti border police picket signalled them to stop for a routine check. All of them were carrying pistols and when the policeman asked them to get out of the vehicle, one of the accused gunned him down. The four then fled to Punjab,” said an officer.
Fearing police retaliation, with the help of Paras, Dabodia shifted his hideout to Bathinda in Punjab. “In Bathinda, Dabodia was hired as a contract killer by the businessman to eliminate his rivals. He disguised himself as a bodyguard to the businessman and on this pretext, he outsmarted police for nearly three months,” added the officer.
“Dabodia, wanted in several cases of ransom, extortion, murder, attempt to murder and Arms Act violation in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, worked as a personal security guard besides running his extortion racket in the Capital from Bathinda,” said police sources, adding that after three months, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police traced his location to Bathinda.
After being tipped off on 18 February, this year, a raid was conducted by the special cell of Delhi Police and Punjab Police jointly in Mansa, Punjab but he had escaped during an encounter despite being shot in the leg. “After the raid, he went to Rajasthan and started running his extortion and contract killing racket. He always preferred to work with first-time criminals and none of his associates had complete information regarding his operations or hideouts,” police sources added. Dabodia never trusted anyone and rarely used a cell phone. He did not trust his closest aides. In April 2012, Dabodia had escaped police custody in Haryana when he was being brought from Bhondsi Jail to Saket Courts.