Staff Reporter
Source: Hindu
Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a wanted gangster from Vietnam with the help of the Interpol. Bunty Pande alias Prakash Narayan Pande was a close aide of Chhota Rajan before he formed his own gang. “He is wanted in 34 cases in India. Most of them are related to extortion,” Himanshu Roy, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, said here in a press conference on Thursday.
Bunty has been remanded to police custody till November 12, after he was presented in court in the morning. He was handed over to the Mumbai police on Wednesday night by the Interpol. Mr. Roy has called it a major breakthrough as his arrest will reveal details about the modus operandi of the fugitive gangsters and their ways of developing local associates. “It will also send an important message to other fugitive gangsters that the law will reach them no matter where they are,” he said.
The police seized from him many passport booklets, which were issued in a different name. They also seized a mobile phone and a few memory cards.
Bunty was detained in Hanoi after a four-month-long investigation had revealed his whereabouts. The Interpol was instrumental in helping the Crime Branch. Mr. Roy said that he was staying there as a Vijay Subhash Sharma and worked as a labour contractor.
“The passport with this name had been issued in 1999 in Cambodia by the Indian embassy there. The records show that he has travelled and stayed in various countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar,” he said.
In India, he was first involved in liquor smuggling in Nainital. He later became part of the Chhota Rajan gang. In 1995, he led the gang which murdered a manager of East-West Airlines in Mumbai. Since then, there have been 34 cases registered against him for crimes such as murder and extortion. “Thirteen cases are registered in Mumbai and 21 in Uttarakhand,” Mr. Roy said.
In 2002, he had differences with Chhota Rajan in Bangkok and had formed an independent gang. He has since been a fugitive, but his crimes in the country have continued. In 2008, a case was filed against him for the extortion of a businessman. A similar case was filed in 2009. “We will ask for an extension of his police custody for further investigation,” Mr. Roy said.
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