In connection with an eight-year-old case involving an attempted murder, the police from the Basti Jodhewal station have arrested Pankaj Rajput—a notorious ‘Category-B’ gangster and drug lord—after bringing him in on a production warrant. In this specific case, the court had already declared the accused a fugitive.
According to sources, Pankaj Rajput has an extensive criminal record, with approximately 16 criminal cases registered against him. Although the Ludhiana Police brought him from Delhi on a production warrant on March 15, they are now preparing to unravel the layers of this old violent crime and ensure he receives a severe punishment. It is worth recalling that the Delhi Police had previously apprehended Pankaj on February 11 during a targeted operation in the Jamalpur area of Ludhiana.
Disclosing details of the case, Inspector Jasvir Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Basti Jodhewal, stated that a case of attempted murder was registered against Pankaj on May 5, 2018. Acting in concert with his accomplices, Pankaj had launched a frenzied attack on a 21-year-old youth, inflicting multiple blows with sharp-edged weapons. The motive behind the attack was that the victim had mustered the courage to testify against the accused in an older case involving an assault on his friend. Seeking revenge for this specific grudge, Pankaj had left the victim bleeding profusely and presumed dead; he had been evading the police ever since.
Currently, the police have taken the accused into custody on remand and have commenced interrogation. The primary focus of the police investigation is now to identify which ‘influential’ individuals provided shelter to this gangster over the years, and what illicit rackets he was operating while he remained a fugitive. The police assert that several more shocking revelations regarding Pankaj’s criminal network are likely to emerge in the coming days.
