Four ‘gangsters’ from Bihar gunned down in late-night encounter in Delhi

According to police, Ranjan Pathak was the leader of a gang called “Sigma & Company”, and was allegedly involved in several recent high-profile killings in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district. He was among Bihar’s most wanted men, and police in the state had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for his arrest.

Kundan Krishnan, Bihar Police Additional Director General (Headquarters and Operations), said the shootout in which the alleged gangsters were killed took place around 2.20 am on Thursday between Dr Ambedkar Chowk and Pansali Chowk in Rohini.

“The main shooters of the Sitamarhi-based criminal gang Sigma & Company were injured in the exchange of fire and taken to Dr B S A Hospital in Rohini, where doctors declared them dead,” ADGP Krishnan said.

According to the officer, the Ranjan Pathak gang was responsible for five contract killings and two cases of extortion in Bihar over the past three months.

Regarding the recent criminal activities carried out by the gang, ADG Krishnan said that one Aditya Kumar was shot dead by Ranjan Pathak and his associates on July 18 in the Bajpatti police station area. (Express Photos)

“The gang was attempting to create an atmosphere of violence and fear in the district (Sitamarhi in North Bihar, on the state’s border with Nepal). Evidence, including an audio clip, has been seized in which Ranjan Pathak is heard talking about spreading unrest before the [Assembly] elections,” Krishnan said.

According to police, Ranjan, Bimlesh, and Manish were from Sitamarhi. Aman, who too is from Bihar, had been living in Delhi’s Karawal Nagar for the past few months.

Delhi Police Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Surender Kumar said a joint team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch and Bihar Police laid a trap from Dr Ambedkar Chowk to Pansali Chowk in Rohini after being tipped off about the presence of the alleged gangsters in the area.

A senior police officer said that on seeing the police, the accused, who were travelling in a white Maruti Baleno, opened fire. The police retaliated, and all four accused received bullet injuries, the officer said.

More than 50 rounds were fired from both sides, police said. Five firearms were recovered from the accused, they said.

Sources said Bihar Police had been tracking the alleged gangsters as they travelled from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Ludhiana in Punjab over the past few days.

“It seems like the accused were looking for a safe place to hide. They chose Delhi because they had stayed here several times in the past,” DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Yadav told The Indian Express.

According to police, Bimlesh supplied weapons to the gang and made extortion calls to businessmen, and Manish was involved in a murder and a kidnapping. Ranjan Pathak was the leader of the gang. Aman provided logistics support, police said.

Delhi Police sources said the accused used public WiFi hotspots to make calls using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.

The latest killing attributed to Sigma & Company was carried out on September 26, when two men on a motorcycle killed a man named Ram Manohar Sharma alias Ganesh Sharma (40) at Lagma village in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district. Soon afterward, Ranjan claimed responsibility, police said.

After the murder, Ranjan had allegedly released a “note” on social media, and had called up local media houses to list his reasons for killing Sharma. The purported note said “Sigma and Company” in bold letters on top, and listed eight alleged “gunaah” (crimes) because of which the victim had been given “mrityu dand” (death sentence).

The encounter comes ahead of voting for a new Assembly in Bihar, scheduled for November 6 and 11.

Seven years ago, a Delhi Police Special Cell team led by DCP Sanjeev Yadav had gunned down alleged gangster Rajesh Bharti and three of his associates during an encounter in South Delhi’s Chhattarpur.

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