Sharpshooter of Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Rana syndicate arrested in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) A key member and sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Rana syndicate, who was tasked with committing criminal activities in Delhi, was arrested from the city's Rohini area, a Special Cell official said on Saturday.

The accused was identified as Pradeep Singh (18), a resident of Uttarakhand.

“Two semi-automatic pistols of .32 bore with nine live cartridges have been recovered from his possession,” said the Delhi Police official.

The official further said that gangster Virender Partap a.k.a Kala Rana recruited Pradeep through Instagram and further connected to him through Bhanu Rana, a resident of Karnal, Haryana, on the Signal App, and prepared him to commit criminal activities in Delhi and its peripherals.

The Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said that a team has been keeping watch over the activities of syndicates and in this process, specific information was received about Pradeep's movement oin Sector 23, Rohini.

“A trap was laid, and the accused, Pradeep, was apprehended,” said Dhaliwal.

Upon interrogation, it emerged that Pradeep in 2022, left his studies and came to Gurugram, where he started living with his friend.

“He would watch the reels of gangster Kala Rana on Instagram and get inspired by his criminal activities. In August 2023, he started following Kala Rana on Instagram and sent him messages saying that he was willing to join his gang for fame,” said Dhaliwal.

“Thereafter, in September 2023, he started communicating with Bhanu Rana through the Signal App on the directions of Kala Rana,” said the Special CP.

Subsequently, on December 30, 2023, Bhanu Rana tasked him to commit a targeted crime in Delhi along with other associates in the next 7-8 days.

“Bhanu Rana also told him that some more people would meet him in Delhi and that the details of the target would be shared later. Further, the accused received a consignment of weapons at Sector 24, Rohini.

"On January 3, he came to Sector 23, Rohini, to meet the other members of the gang, but got caught with illegal arms and ammunition in his possession,” said the Special CP.