Most wanted criminal Badli deported from Cambodia, arrested

The Gurugram STF has arrested the state's most wanted gangster, Mainpal Badli, alias Dheela, who carried a reward of Rs 7 lakh, after he was deported from Cambodia. He was detained in Cambodia for about 10 days ago, and was caught by a joint team of Central agencies and the STF under a secret operation.

Mainpal, who had allegedly been operating his gang from abroad, was already serving life imprisonment in three cases in a Hisar jail, and had fled the country during parole in 2018. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the court of the Judicial Magistrate, Bahadurgarh, in 2019.

Mainpal belongs to Badli village in Jhajjar district and 22 cases are registered against him, including murder and robbery.

An STF investigation revealed that in 2019, he prepared fake documents in the name of Sonu Kumar to obtain a passport, which he used to get to Cambodia from Kolkata via Bangkok. In Cambodia, he set up a base in Siem Reap area, ran a discotheque and married a local woman, with whom he has three children.

“The STF shared information about his location and criminal history with Interpol, the Ministry of External Affairs and the CBI Headquarters. After the Cambodian administration agreed to extradite him, a team led by IPS officer Wasim Akhtar was sent to Cambodia. The team detained him and brought him back to India on September 2. As soon as he reached the Delhi airport, the STF formally arrested him,” said B Satheesh Balan, IG (STF).