Amit Bhura, wanted in five states, arrested from Patiala

Aman Sood

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 4

The Patiala Crime Investigation Agency has managed to arrest dreaded and notorious gangster Amit Kumar, alias Bhura, wanted in five states — Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttarakhand. In the secret operation, Bhura was arrested from Patiala by a special team constituted for the purpose.

Sources confirmed that Bhura’s accomplices, including Naveen Hooda and Dinesh, freed him from the custody of Uttarakhand Police on December 15 last year after throwing chilli powder into the eyes of the personnel escorting him and firing several rounds of bullets. He had also taken away two AK-47 and a rifle from the policemen escorting Bhura.

Senior officials confirmed that he would now be shifted to another state following court orders and police teams from other states are already on their way to Patiala to get Bhura’s custody.

“Five cops were suspended and the SSP, Dehradun, was transferred following his escape owing to lack of coordination and certain other lapses,” said a senior officer who was instrumental in his arrest in Patiala.

“Five teams from different states headed by four IPS officers were looking for him. He was suspected to be camping in Haryana,” he told The Tribune.

Bhura was arrested in 2014 in connection with an August 5 shootout outside Roorkee jail, in which, three members of the Cheenu Pandit gang were killed. Two members of the gang sat in the same tempo which the five-member police team had hired to reach Baghpat court from Tatiri Mandi. Along the way, three persons who were in an SUV intercepted the vehicle and fired bullets in the air, while the two in the tempo sprayed pepper powder in the eyes of the policemen. In the melee that ensued, Bhura escaped, carrying away two AK-47 assault rifles and an Insas of the police team.

Amit was in custody of Uttrakhand Police when he escaped from Uttar Pradesh. This was not the first incident wherein Amit managed to escape from right under the nose of the police. In 2011 too, three constables were detained when they had allowed Amit to spend a night with his wife in Dilshad Garden, from where he fled.

The constables had brought him from Dehradun Jail for a case hearing at a Rohini court in Delhi. The Uttarakhand Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on Bhura’s arrest. A case was registered against Bhura in 2001. Since then, his name has surfaced in 40 cases of heinous crime in different states.