Four members of Sigma gang shot in encounter

Four members of the Sigma gang, allegedly involved in multiple murder cases in Bihar, were killed in a shootout with a joint team of the Delhi Police and the Bihar Police in Rohini in the early hours of Thursday.

The accused have been identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto, alias Bimlesh Sahni (25), Manish Pathak (33) and Aman Thakur (21), all residents of Bihar’s Sitamarhi district.

The encounter, which took place around 2.20 am on Bahadur Shah Marg in Rohini, was one of the biggest carried out in Delhi in the recent years, the police said.

The accused, who were wanted for heinous crimes, including multiple murders, were reportedly planning to carry out criminal activities in Bihar ahead of the Assembly poll scheduled next month.

A police source said they had committed a murder in Bihar after the model code of conduct came into place on October 6.

Ranjan Pathak, the kingpin of the gang carrying a bounty of Rs 25,000 for information leading to his arrest, was reportedly wanted in eight criminal cases.

The encounter took place when the joint team launched an operation to trace the accused, who were reportedly hiding in Delhi for the past several days, a senior police officer said. During the operation, the accused allegedly opened fire at the police team, prompting retaliatory action that left all four injured, the officer said.

They were rushed to a hospital in Rohini, where doctors declared them dead, he added. The Delhi Police tracked the accused’s movements after receiving inputs from the Bihar Police, officials said.