Gangster let his victims know who he was before shooting them down, say policeme

A day after the arrest of wanted criminal Rajesh Bawana following an encounter, police said he used to shout out his complete introduction to his opponents before eliminating them.

“He intended to neutralise other gangsters in the city. So he would shout loudly his full name, his father’s name and his address before shooting them dead,” said an officer with Delhi Police’s special cell that was involved in the encounter.

Rajesh was out of jail on bail since April this year. But since then, he was booked for 20 known criminal cases, police said on Thursday.

Three days after emerging from the prison, he had shot dead Ravinder in revenge for having a hand in his arrest.

The last of the four murders he is accused of committing during this brief period since his release was less than a week ago. Naveen, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana was shot dead allegedly by Rajesh on the suspicion that he was acting as an informer for police.

“He wanted to take over the top slot in Delhi’s crime world which was vacated by another gangster Neetu Dabodia after his encounter in October last year,” said the officer.

Wanted in at least 45 criminal cases distributed across Delhi, UP and Haryana, Rajesh carried a total bounty of Rs 3 lakh on his head, said police.

Rajesh is also notorious for holding grudges, said a source. This was revealed in a daring attempt by him to shoot dead a Tihar Jail warden against whom he held a grudge during his prison term. The warden Ravinder escaped n the attack.

Apart from Rajesh, his four accomplices were also held late afternoon on Thursday.

Police said that a team was constituted after a tip-off that Rajesh and his accomplices would arrive near a helipad at Pooth Khurd-Barwala road in Rohini on Wednesday.

Two foreign made revolvers, eight sophisticated pistols and one rifle were recovered from their possession, said police.

It is being probed if these arms were meant to be supplied to someone else or were in their possession for end use.

This arrest gains importance as Rajesh was swiftly terrorising the city, said police. “Even the highly notorious criminals like Neeraj Bawana had begun to dread him,” said an officer.