In a major breakthrough, the crime investigation agency (CIA) of Panchkula police on Sunday night arrested gangster Bhupinder Singh alias Bhupi Rana. Involved in over 25 murders, murder attempts and other cases, Bhupi Rana and two of his aides were nabbed near the Sector 23 dumping ground in connection with the murder of 27-year-old Bhupesh Rana on April 16 in Barwala, Haryana.
The accused were carrying pistols when they were intercepted close to a naka (checkpoint) in a white Maruti Baleno by CIA teams from Sector 26 and Sector 19, led by inspector Aman Kumar and Arvind Kumar, respectively.
When stopped the gangsters tried to flee after breaking the barricades, getting into a scuffle with the CIA men when they were surrounded. “They tried to use pistols, but were taken into custody,” said inspector Aman Kumar.
Bhupi Rana’s accomplices were identified as Gaurav Roda of Barwala and Kuldeep Chauhan of Naraingarh, Ambala.
The weapons were seized too, officials said. “On checking, three pistols, which prima facie seem to be foreign-made, were recovered from them.”
With ‘made in USA’ and Italy markings, the pistols were loaded with five to six cartridges. Apart from this, 47 live cartridges were also recovered,” said an official.
The three gangsters have been booked by Panchkula police under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code and section 25 of the Arms Act. The trio was produced before a local court on Monday and sent to five-day police custody.
Last week, gangster Monu Rana, a rival of the Bhupi Rana Gang, was arrested by the Ambala police.
Old enmity between gangs
On April 16, Bhupesh Rana, a member of the Monu Rana gang, was shot dead in his Alto car by a man driving a Maruti Swift and suspected to be part of Bhupi Rana’s gang. A murder case was then registered against Bhupi Rana, a resident of Handesra village in Mohali, Gaurav Rana and others.
According to police reports, a number of clashes have been reported in the past between both gangs in their battle for supremacy in the region. On August 2014, Mustak, another member of Bhupi Rana’s gang, was allegedly murdered by Bhupesh Rana and other members of the Monu Rana gang.
Following this, police had arrested Bhupesh, who was then lodged in Ambala jail before being released last year on bail. Monu Rana, too, had been attacked in January last year allegedly by the Bhupi Rana gang when produced in a Yamunanagar court in a murder case.
Dhahan posts on Fb
Meanwhile, a post on gangster Dilpreet Singh Dhahan’s Facebook page, shared at 7.41 pm on Sunday, said in Punjabi that “At 7 am today Bhuppi Rana and Gourav Rana (sic) were arrested by Haryana police in Gurugram. May god keep my brothers safe.” Dhahan was arrested on July 10 by the Punjab police, in a joint operation with the crime branch of Chandigarh Police.
The post mentions that Bhupi Rana were arrested by Haryana police from Gurugram, while Panchkula police has said the due were arrested in Panchkula on Sunday night.
‘Rana gang behind recent murder in Ambala’
Officials privy to investigations in cases against Bhupi Rana and accomplices Kuldeep, Gaurav and Sahil Rana, say they are involved in the murder of the husband of the sarpanch of Baragaon village in Naraingarh, Ambala. Unidentified persons had pumped eight bullets into the victim, a government school teacher referred to as ‘Session Kumar Judge.’
Fight between gang members
Sahil Rana, interrogations of the arrested gangsters have revealed, recently had a fight with Bhupi Rana and Gaurav as he wanted new clothes and money, an official said.
Sources also claimed that Bhupi Rana had recently moved to an apartment at Sushant Lok in Gurugram from a friend’s flat in Delhi’s Rohini. He was also in touch with some members of the notorious Devinder Bambiha gang, Aman Kumar alias Amna Jaito and Yadwinder Singh alias Yaddu Jaito, who were recently arrested by the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of the Punjab police . As a matter of fact, Bhupi Rana had exchanged his Hyundai Creta for their Maruti Baleno in which he was held.
Was in touch with gangster Buddha
Police also suspected that Bhupi Rana had links with Punjab gangster Sukhpreet Singh, alias Buddha, who is wanted in over 15 cases of murder, robbery and other heinous crimes.
“Bhupi was in touch with several dreaded gangsters in Punjab and Haryana. He had strong connections with them, one being Buddha. There was also some rivalry between him and (gangster) Sampat Nehra,” an official added
First Published: Jul 30, 2018 13:45 IST
