Bihar's 4 'most wanted' gangsters killed in Delhi encounter
What's the story
In a major police operation, four notorious gangsters of the Sigma Gang were killed in an encounter with the Delhi and Bihar Police early Thursday. The shootout took place at 2:20am in Northwest Delhi when police attempted to intercept the gang members, who opened fire. The accused were rushed to Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital after sustaining gunshot injuries during retaliatory firing but were declared dead on arrival.
Investigation progress
Operation carried out after intelligence inputs
According to ANI, the operation was carried out acting on specific intelligence inputs that the gang members were planning to carry out a major criminal activity ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Based on this input, a joint team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch and Bihar Police laid a trap in the area of the encounter.
Police
Police had been tracking gang
The gangsters shot dead were identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto (25), Manish Pathak (33), and Aman Thakur (21). Ranjan was the gang leader. Delhi Police sources told NDTV that Ranjan had been openly challenging the police through social media and audio messages before the encounter. Police had been tracking their movement for several days before this operation.
Criminal profile
Gangsters wanted for organized crime activities in Bihar
The Sigma Gang had been active for nearly seven years and was reportedly regrouping in Delhi to evade police action in Bihar. The gang had a long history of extortion and contract killings across Bihar. They were wanted for several heinous crimes, including murder and organized crime activities in Bihar. Ranjan had a bounty of ₹25,000 on his arrest for eight criminal cases, including five high-profile murders in Sitamarhi district.