The Uttarakhand police and the Uttar Pradesh police have decided to launch a joint operation to nab the dreaded gangster Amit Malik alias Bhura, who escaped from police custody on Monday, and to recover the weapons looted from the police. It was agreed that the teams from both the States would exchange relevant information related to Bhura.
Uttarakhand police officers are also in touch with Delhi police to crack the case, said State Director-General of Police (DGP) BS Sidhu on Tuesday. The Uttar Pradesh Government announced a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on Tuesday for the information leading to Bhura’s arrest while the figure announced for the same on Monday by the Uttarakhand Government was Rs 1 lakh. Sidhu said that police have got some vital information related to Bhura and the identity of the persons whom he was recently in touch with. The investigating teams have been directed to grill the suspects to get more information.
He further said that several teams, including a Special Task Force (STF) and a Special Operation Group (SOG), have been formed and they have been deployed at various places across western Uttar Pradesh. This aside, Garhwal Range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sanjay Gunjyal is camping there since Monday and the teams are working under his direction to apprehend the accused.
Monday’s daring escapade is not, however, the only instance of Bhura giving the police the slip. In 2010, the same gangster had escaped from the custody of Delhi police while being taken to the local court from Tihar jail for a hearing. After two or three days since he escaped, Bhura had looted around Rs 3.5 cr from a bank’s van in Delhi. In view of this, Sidhu talked with Delhi Special Commissioner of Police and sought his co-operation. DIG Gunjyal has been directed to be in touch with Delhi police officers.
He further said that the photograph of Bhura will be pasted at various places. Besides, pamphlets highlighting the photo of Bhura and the reward amount would be distributed at various inter-State check-posts, police stations and other places in western Uttar Pradesh. The investigation has revealed that Bhura was engaged in spreading wings in western Uttar Pradesh (Meerut, Ghaziabad and other places), Delhi and Jaipur (Rajasthan). However, he was not directly involved in crimes involving looting of money that have recently happened in Uttarakhand. He was a sharp shooter working under the master-gangster Sunil Rathi.
It should be mentioned here that Bhura had escaped from the police custody while being taken to the court from the prison he was lodged in for a hearing in Baghpat in connection with a murder case. The armed criminals had sprinkled chilli power on policemen and looted police of two AK-47 rifles and one self-loading rifle (SlR) pm aside from securing the escape of Bhura from escorting cops on Monday morning.