New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a key Hawa Singh Bawaria gang member who had been absconding for more than 21 years and carried a cumulative reward of Rs 30,000 announced by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police, officials said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Dharampal alias Dharampal Bawaria alias Dharam Singh alias Dharam Chand alias Petu Bawaria, was apprehended from Haryana’s Bhiwani district, they said.
According to police, the 60-year-old accused was wanted in multiple cases of dacoity, robbery and other serious offences registered in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Haryana Police had declared a reward of Rs 20,000 and Uttar Pradesh Police Rs 10,000 on his arrest.
Police said Dharampal was a prominent
member of the notorious Hawa Singh Bawaria gang and had managed to evade arrest by frequently changing his identity, aliases and places of residence.
A proclaimed offender in a dacoity case registered in Haryana’s Ambala, he had been on the run ever since he escaped from the custody of Uttar Pradesh Police in 2005, who were taking him back to Lucknow jail after producing him before a Haryana court, officials said.
The arrest was made by a team of the Western Range-II unit of the Crime Branch following a tip-off.
The team was informed that the accused was living in the Bahal area of Haryana under a fake identity. Based on this information, a team led by Inspector Satish Malik laid a trap and apprehended him, police said.
During interrogation, Dharampal allegedly disclosed that he had been associated with the Hawa Singh Bawaria gang since the late 1990s and was involved in several cases of robbery and dacoity across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
According to police, the gang primarily targeted warehouses and godowns storing electronic goods and other valuable merchandise. Gang members would conduct reconnaissance of the targeted premises, overpower security guards at night, and transport the looted goods to other states for disposal.
Police said Dharampal was first arrested in 1998 in a dacoity case in Haryana. He later became involved in several major crimes along with gang leader Hawa Singh.
In 2004, he was arrested by the Crime Branch in Ghaziabad, but escaped from police custody the next year while being transported from Haryana to Lucknow.
After escaping, he allegedly adopted different identities and shifted residences frequently to avoid arrest. He eventually settled in the Bahal area and began living under the alias Dharam Chand, and took up farming for a living, police said.
According to police records, the accused is involved in at least 11 criminal cases.
Further interrogation is underway, police said. PTI SGV SGV RUK RUK
