New Delhi:
Gangsters Himanshu Bhau and Neeraj Faridpuria, wanted in India for multiple murders and organised crime, have been arrested in the United States. The two were arrested together in Las Vegas on October 22 following inputs from the Haryana Special Task Force (STF).
The action was carried out with the assistance of the US immigration enforcement agency (ICE). Haryana STF is in touch with US authorities and central agencies to secure their deportation to India.
Himanshu, whose real name is Himanshu Ritoliya, had obtained the passport under the name of 'Himanshu Sigroha'.
Himanshu Bhau, a rival of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was on the most-wanted lists of Haryana and Delhi Police. Murders, kidnappings, extortions -- a number of cases have been registered against him and his associates spanning from Haryana to Delhi to Uttar Pradesh. The notorious gangster has also had an Interpol notice against him.
Reports have also linked him to Portugal, where he is suspected of operating his criminal network, and to gangs associated with Neeraj Bawana and Naveen Bali.
Neeraj Faridpuria, a resident of Haryana's Palwal district, was also living in the US at the time of his arrest. More than 25 criminal cases have been registered against him.
Haryana Police had earlier arrested Neeraj following an encounter in 2012. In 2015, a court sentenced him to life imprisonment in a murder case. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in 2019.
His name later surfaced in the June 2019 murder of Congress spokesperson Vikas Chaudhary in Faridabad. After that, he allegedly fled to Canada via Dubai. He was later given charge of the Bambiha gang in Canada, a rival of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Neeraj later moved to the United States, where he was allegedly working alongside the Himanshu Bhau gang. He had also claimed responsibility for the firing incident outside YouTuber Elvish Yadav's residence.
The police have been investigating a series of shootings and murders in the Delhi-NCR region where the Himanshu Bhau gang has figured in suspected links or claims of responsibility on social media. One such case concerns the killing of Vijay Kumar, a gym trainer who was shot dead in south Delhi's Aya Nagar in September. Police are examining whether the murder was connected to a longstanding rivalry between families in the village and are also verifying a social media post attributed to Bhau that claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to police and the victim's family, Kumar was inside a gym when some men allegedly called him outside. Two attackers on a motorcycle then opened fire near Hansa Chowk in the Fatehpur Beri area in south Delhi. Police said around 15 rounds were fired around 10 am.
"Vijay Kumar sustained multiple gunshot injuries and later succumbed. An FIR has been registered and multiple teams have been formed to trace and apprehend the accused, who fled the spot. The motive initially seems to arise from personal enmity," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal had said.
A social media post purportedly issued by Bhau subsequently claimed responsibility for the killing and carried a warning in Hindi: "Bhagne se kam nahi chalega field me aao. Bhagne nahi dunga kisi ko (Running away won't help; come out into the field. I won't let anyone run away).
The post referred to the "Bhau gang" and included the phrase "Since-2020", according to police sources.
Earlier this year, 55-year-old dairy businessman Ratan Lohia was shot dead near his home in Aya Nagar, the same locality where the gym trainer's murder took place. Police sources claimed that more than 60 rounds were fired after the attackers spent several hours conducting reconnaissance in the area.
Family members alleged that Lohia had been killed by Rambir Lohia and his relatives in retaliation for the death of Rambir's 24-year-old son, Arun, who was shot dead near Chattarpur Metro Station earlier this year.
Police sources also suspected the involvement of gangster Neeraj Faridpuriya in Lohia's murder and investigated whether the attack had been carried out by shooters based in Haryana. The suspects were believed to have travelled from Faridabad and abandoned their vehicle there, according to the sources.
Four alleged members of the Himanshu Bhau gang were arrested in connection with Lohia's murder, police sources said.