“If in case you have a fool-proof plan, the police can by no means catch you want Akshay Kumar’s character did in (the 2013 film) Particular 26” – that’s what Lavi Pal, the alleged ring-leader of the Bijnor-Meerut gang that kidnapped a number of Bollywood artistes, would repeatedly inform his 10-member gang earlier than each ‘job’, in line with his henchman, Arjun Karanwal.
For probably the most half, it went to plan too – that’s, till the arrest of 30-year-old Lavi following an encounter Sunday night time. The arrest got here per week after Arjun Karanwal (30), one other prime suspect within the case, was arrested following an identical encounter. The detentions meant that almost all the gang’s 10 members save two are actually in police custody.
For the Meerut Police, Lavi’s arrest is a major coup of their quest to spherical up the gang, which has allegedly been answerable for abduction of not less than six movie artistes — together with Bollywood actor Mushtaq Khan and comic Sunil Pal.
Other than Lavi and Karanwal, police have additionally arrested former councillor Sarthak Chaudhary, Azim, Sabiuddin and Shashank, Akash alias Gola and one different unidentified particular person. In the meantime, two extra unidentified suspects are absconding.
Police declare that in questioning, Karanwal had revealed that Lavi, a resident of Bijnor’s Nai Basti, had beforehand headed one other gang that was concerned in heists. However six months in the past, that gang allegedly cut up following disagreements over their loot.
“Solely Pal, Karanwal and the previous councillor Chaudhary remained of that gang. Then, seven months in the past, seven extra members have been inducted and this new gang carried out six kidnappings,” Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada advised The Indian Specific. Chaudhary, a former Bijnor municipality councillor, reportedly has over a dozen legal circumstances registered towards him.
Within the new gang too, it was Lavi who would plan the abductions. First, he would lure artistes to make appearances at occasions in western UP by even giving them an advance cost. When the artistes took the bait, they’d comply with their automobiles from the IGI Airport, Delhi, and ultimately abduct them close to Modinagar in Ghaziabad district.
The artistes they thus lured would sometimes be character actors who wouldn’t demand massive sums as advance, police stated. Lavi would let the gang in on the kidnapping plan solely hours earlier than, Karanwal has allegedly revealed.
“No one besides Lavi knew who their goal was till the precise abduction,” Tada claimed. “Gang members additionally had mounted roles assigned to them and would do this for each abduction.
The gang’s first alleged abduction was movie and TV actor Arun Bakshi in August, adopted by actors equivalent to Khan in November and Pal earlier this month.
However not all their plans have been profitable. Actor Rajesh Puri, who’s identified for his 90s sitcom ‘Yeh Duniya Gazab Ki’ and the 2002 historic drama ‘Aamrapali’, allegedly managed to flee captivity whereas being taken from the Delhi airport to Bijnor.
It was on the again of a lacking particular person’s report and a zero FIR filed on December 9 by Pal’s spouse that the gang’s plans unraveled. In accordance with a grievance by his spouse Sunita Pal, the comic had left Mumbai on December 2 and couldn’t be contacted.
The Mumbai Police transferred the zero FIR to the Meerut Police. At the moment, Lavi was allegedly planning to abduct Bollywood actor Shakti Kapoor. “He (Lavi) had … even spoken to him about being a particular visitor at a programme in Bijnor. The actor demanded `5 lakh as advance cash, which was being organized,” Tada stated.
In the meantime, Meerut Police started inspecting the proof it had – 100 CCTV pictures from Modinagar to Bijnor and an audio tape that the gang had allegedly launched after the comic’s kidnapping. They used police surveillance to slim down suspects. However it was a letter written to police on December 18 that supplied probably the most very important clue. It was written by an undertrial in Meerut jail, who recognized the voice within the audio tape as Lavi’s.
“Vivek Saini, an inmate from the district jail, had claimed that Lavi and his gang had kidnapped him on October 1 final yr and that he was launched solely after his household coughed up a ransom of `10 lakh,” Meerut Superintendent of Police Ayush Vikram Singh advised The Indian Specific. “I forwarded the letter to the Kotwali police station and directed them to submit a report inside three days.”
For the Meerut police, this was the ultimate piece to the puzzle. They arrested 4 suspects the identical night time following a tip off, and others, together with Arjun Karanwal, shortly adopted swimsuit.
Moreover abductions, Lavi would additionally allegedly lend cash to locals at a excessive fee of curiosity. police stated.“Lavi will probably be booked beneath Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Actions (Prevention) Act, 1986, and his illegally collected wealth and property will probably be connected quickly,” Tada stated.
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