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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Why gangster Shorab, who jumped parole, is a headache for Delhi and UP Police
The Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police are currently on the lookout for 38-year-old gangster Shorab, who has gone missing after jumping parole last month. Granted parole to visit his wife in Lucknow, Shorab had been incarcerated in Tihar Jail since 2011. Shorab is the youngest of three brothers who allegedly committed a series of murders in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in early and late 2010. The trio allegedly orchestrated murders and contract killings from inside jail, the police alleged. According to Delhi Police officials, Shorab was granted parole by a Delhi court on June 28 and was supposed to return within three days. However, when officials visited his house in Lucknow, he was not there. Delhi Police officials said that they suspect that he may have fled towards Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and have alerted the UP Special Task Force. Sources said that the authorities also suspect that Shorab may try to leave the country via Nepal. 3 brothers and their reign of terror Shorab and his elder brothers, Saleem and Rustom, who hail from Sadar Bazar in Lucknow, were involved in over two dozen criminal cases across Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, according to the police. They were arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in 2011 in connection with a robbery-murder case. Recalling the reign of terror unleashed by the trio from Lucknow to Delhi, affecting everyone from businessmen to politicians, a senior Delhi Police officer said the brothers were known for their willingness to open fire without hesitation. According to Delhi Police records, Shorab has been named in 19 criminal cases, including charges of murder, attempted murder, dacoity and extortion, offences under the UP Gangsters and Goonda Acts, and the Arms Act. Of these, five cases were registered by the Delhi Police. Convicted in a 2011 daylight robbery and murder case One of the most daring crimes committed by the gang in Delhi was the murder of a jewellery shop owner in East Delhi's Krishna Nagar on February 22, 2011, according to Delhi Police records. Along with four associates, the trio carried out a daylight robbery and shot dead the shop owner, Gaurav Gambhir, when he resisted their attempt. They then fled the scene with the stolen jewellery. The three brothers were arrested shortly after, following a brief encounter near Vishwas Nagar in East Delhi. At the time, Rustom was riding a motorcycle, while Shorab and their elder brother Saleem were in a car, allegedly en route to target another victim. The police had claimed to have recovered a .32 pistol and a 9mm pistol from them. The court later convicted them in the case. A police officer said the brothers would often commit crimes together. They recruited unemployed youth and coerced them into joining their gang, which mostly comprised members from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, he said. 'At the time of their arrest, the brothers were among the most wanted criminals on the UP Police's list. The Delhi Police had also announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for each of them. Saleem was facing 30 criminal cases, while both his younger brothers were involved in 19 cases each,' the officer added. In Delhi, the brothers were involved in a spree of robberies and snatchings across East Delhi areas, including Preet Vihar, Anand Vihar, Krishna Nagar, Dilshad Garden, and Vivek Vihar, till 2011. In Delhi Police records, they were notorious for their daylight robberies, while the Uttar Pradesh Police referred to them as 'serial killers'. According to police records, the brothers began their criminal careers as teenagers. In 2005, they allegedly killed three people within 90 minutes in Lucknow's Hussainganj, Khadra, and Madiaon areas, in retaliation for the murder of their brother. Before the killings, they allegedly called the then district police chief, daring him to stop them. The trio were also accused of murdering the nephew of former MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq in Lucknow. They had also allegedly killed a social worker, Saifi, in daylight in Lucknow's Wazirganj area. Later, they shifted their area of operation towards western UP and eventually, Delhi. In 2013, while lodged in jail, they allegedly orchestrated the killing of a municipal councillor, Pappu Pandey, in the Aminabad area of Lucknow. Caught getting VIP treatment in custody In 2019, Shorab was caught along with his wife and sister in a hotel room in Lucknow while being escorted by a team of Delhi Police officials from the Third Battalion for a court appearance in Kanpur. The six escorting police personnel, led by an assistant sub-inspector, were found resting in another hotel room while Shorab met his family. The Delhi Police later suspended all the officers involved for dereliction of duty. The Lucknow police also registered a separate FIR and arrested Shorab for this act. Officials said that due to their notoriety, the trio were often produced in court via video conferencing. Officials also revealed that the brothers feared the Uttar Pradesh Police would kill them in an encounter. It is now suspected that Shorab may not have gone to Lucknow after being granted parole, and probably fled immediately after his release from Tihar Jail.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
STF arrests prime suspect in 2022 Bilaspur murder case
Varanasi: The UP Special Task Force (STF) has successfully apprehended a prime suspect in the high-profile murder of a real estate trader in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, in 2022. The STF's Varanasi field unit, led by deputy SP Shailendra Pratap Singh, arrested the accused, Vinay Kumar Dwivedi alias Basu alias Guruji from Chamrauha village in the Manikpur police station area of Chitrakoot on Friday night. The STF recovered a pistol and live cartridges from him. The STF revealed that Dwivedi had been on the run for nearly three years, constantly changing locations to evade police in Chhattisgarh and other states. He had recently taken refuge in Varanasi, where the STF tracked him down. Dwivedi was wanted for the 2022 murder of Sanjeev Tripathi, a real estate trader who was also a office-bearer of a political party. Tripathi was shot dead by two car-borne assailants, including Dwivedi, in Bilaspur. During questioning by STF officials, Dwivedi revealed that he came to Varanasi at the invitation of his accomplice Ajaz alias Sonu, who carries a bounty of Rs 1 lakh, from Pratapgarh. He further disclosed that in 2022, he, along with his associates Ajaz alias Sonu, Danish Ansari, Pappu Dadhi, Prasoon Gupta, and others, finalised the strategy to kill Tripathi on the orders of his brother Kapil Tripathi due to personal enmity. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Dwivedi also revealed that in 2019, he, along with his associates, murdered BHU student Gaurav Singh over a personal feud. After this murder, he was arrested and lodged in Varanasi jail. While serving his sentence, he came into contact with Ajaz's brother, and after his release, he got involved in criminal activities with them. A total of 10 cases are lodged against him with the Varanasi, Chhattisgarh and Noida police. The arrest team included STF Varanasi field unit Sub-Inspector Angad Yadav, Shahzada Khan and Vinay Maurya, among others.
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Advanced combat equipment to bolster UP police armoury
The state government has approved the purchase of new, advanced, high-power tactical and combat equipment worth nearly ₹1 crore for the UP police armoury, senior government officials said on Friday. The list includes 20 combat shotguns, six sniper rifle suppressors, 50 Glock 33-round magazines, 100 Holographic sights for SMG, 25 GPS trackers, 10 spy cameras, 25 IP-based battery cameras and 65 BR Vests Level-III+. The move is expected to enhance the state police preparedness in tackling threats and ensuring a better internal security framework across Uttar Pradesh. A senior home department official confirmed that the state government issued an approval order regarding the purchase of these items worth ₹99,99,148 on June 10, 2025. He said the procurement of these items will be done by the UP Special Task Force, a specialised agency in the purchase of tactical and combat equipment. A senior STF official said the list of equipment included a combat shotgun used in military warfare and sniper rifle suppressors, which reduce the noise of a firearm by decreasing the sound pressure level and trapping and cooling expanding gases. 'Additionally, the list includes Holographic weapon sight (which) is helpful for aligning the targets with precision, speed and highest aiming accuracy. It could be addressed with both eyes open, which helps in increased peripheral vision for an unlimited eye-relief and parallax free image created with a large and bright aiming reticle pattern allowing quick target acquisition particularly in close quarter combat situations,' he explained. 'High quality Bullet Resistant (BR) Vests will be purchased to ensure safety of police personnel or its users,' he added. The official order was issued electronically by Annavi Dinesh Kumar, special secretary, government of U.P, addressing the director general of police, Lucknow. This was in response to the proposal from U.P. Police Headquarters highlighting the need to enhance the state police's condition for dealing better with high-risk situations and organised crimes. The funds have been granted for the first time for such purchases under the current financial year 2025-26 from the budget for machinery and equipment. The order clearly mentions that the approved amount must be utilized by March 31, 2026 and that any irregularity or audit objection during the procurement will be the responsibility of the U.P. Police headquarters and STF headquarters. Earlier, an addition to the state police armoury was done at the end of previous financial year. Then, approval was granted for the purchase of combat shotguns, 9mm pistols, 5.56 mm rifle carbines, assault rifles, sub machine guns, pump action guns as well as advanced auxiliary gadgets, including thermal weapon sight for sniper rifles, magazines for Glock33 pistols and huge cache of ammunition for practice sessions as well as for field operations, against organized gangs and terror groups. All these weapons were worth over ₹83 crore. Eighteen different approvals for purchase of these arms, ammunition and gadgets by the state government were issued on March 29, 30, and 31.
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Heads set to roll in culture dept for manipulating bills of artistes
Authorities and employees of the culture department, as well as outsourced staff hired for arranging state government events, have come under the police scanner after the UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested a Kanpur-based event manager on Friday for manipulating bills related to payments made to artistes of these events. The STF officials confirmed that the event manager, Neel Vijay Singh, manipulated bills by forging signatures of the artistes in connivance with some officers of the culture department. They said the accused specifically mentioned the name of an additional director rank official of the department involved in the racket. A senior police official said that Singh will be further taken on police remand to interrogate him about other people involved in this fraud. He said the revelation made by Singh could expose the entire nexus of event managers, officials and employees of the culture department. 'We will also investigate different cultural events organised by the state government in the recent past. The list of artistes roped in for the events will be sought from the culture department to cross check payments made to them and what bill was approved,' a police official privy to the development said. In a press note shared with the media, the STF officials stated that the investigation into the matter was initiated after receiving a complaint from a woman artiste accusing the event manager of manipulating bills made in her name and by forging her signatures. The event manager was arrested for his direct involvement in manipulating bills of artistes after registering an FIR under appropriate sections of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita at Gomti Nagar police station. It stated the connivance of culture department officials is yet to be established and further investigation in the case is on. In the FIR, the woman alleged that she participated in Bharat-Nepal Maitri Mahotsav (Indo-Nepal Friendship Festival) organised in Bahraich in 2024. He said the event manager hired the artist to sing for ₹35,000, but paid her ₹30,000, while asking for a cancelled cheque to give the pending amount. The singer mentioned that she received an amount of ₹2,41,000 in her bank account after giving the cancelled cheque to the event manager. The event manager threatened the artiste with dire consequences after she objected to transferring the amount to the event manager stating that it has come from the state government treasury and she will have to pay it back if the government demands the money back.
Hindustan Times
18-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Another ghost SIM card racket exposed; POS agent held in Sitapur
While backtracking sources of pre-activated SIM cards, the state police have exposed another nexus of POS (point of sales) agents in Sitapur supplying SIM cards to criminals and terror operatives. On Thursday night, UP Special Task Force exposed a major nexus comprising telecom company employees and distributors involved in supplying over 10,000 SIM cards activated through unauthorised means to cyber criminals in Chitrakoot. Six people, including two territory sales executives of a prominent telecom firm, were arrested. In the Sitapur case, UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Friday carried out extensive searches to arrest POS agent Sant Ram, who allegedly sold 14 SIM cards that were issued on forged Aadhaar cards to terror operatives in 2022. The Sitapur police confirmed that the accused managed to escape but was later caught from Dhairacha Bazaar near the highway on Saturday morning. On Thursday, UP ATS inspector Arvind Kumar Pandey had lodged an FIR against Sant Ram, who ran a SIM card shop in Dhairacha Bazar under old Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 for cheating, 467 for forgery of valuable securities, 468 for forgery of document and 471 for using as genuine a forged document to issue SIM cards. According to the FIR, Sant Ram used the photograph of his ex-wife Shalu to prepare forged Aadhaar cards and issued SIM cards to criminal elements at higher prices after activating them. A senior ATS official said initial investigation revealed that Sant Ram sold 14 SIM cards to criminal and terror elements. The official confirmed that the SIM cards supplied to criminal and terror elements in Chitrakoot and Sitapur were from the same telecom company. 'We will issue notice to the telecom company and probe the role of its employees in promoting such illegal sale of SIM cards to achieve their targets and smaller monetary benefits,' he added. The STF officials said CBI, which has launched a nationwide crackdown to curb cybercrimes, has also carried out simultaneous raids in several districts of UP. Hathras ASP CN Sinha had confirmed that the CBI carried out raids at multiple places in Hathras to arrest preactivated SIM cards' suppliers on Friday.
