Hazaribagh, July 30 (IANS) Jharkhand police have arrested six criminals linked to the notorious gang of Dhanbad-based gangster Prince Khan following an encounter on the 13 Mile Transporting Road in Barkagaon, Hazaribagh district, officials said on Thursday.
One of the accused sustained a bullet injury to his leg during retaliatory firing by the police. Arms and ammunition were also recovered from those arrested.
According to police, a tip-off indicated that Prince Khan’s criminal network was active in the Lohsinghna police station area and was recruiting new members into the gang.
After verifying the information, a special team was formed under Barkagaon SDPO Amit Kumar Singh to launch a crackdown.
During the operation, police initially detained two active gang members. Based on their interrogation, Aman Kumar Singh was arrested from Azad Nagar under the Pelawal police station limits, while Mohammed Joshan was apprehended on his identification. Police recovered 20 rounds of .303-bore live ammunition from their possession.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that gang members extorted money from coal traders, transporters and local businessmen by using firearms and intimidation. Acting on this information, police conducted a raid in the Dudkapaath coal mining area.
Upon spotting the police team, the criminals allegedly opened fire on them. In the ensuing exchange, one accused suffered a bullet injury to his right leg, while the others managed to flee into the nearby forest.
The injured accused was identified as Mohammed Joshan. A country-made pistol and live cartridges were recovered from him.
Police said Mohammed Joshan admitted during interrogation that he worked for both the Prince Khan gang and the KSS Kuber gang. He was involved in collecting levy money from coal traders and was operating in the area along with his associates for that purpose.
Investigators said the arrested accused have provided crucial information about the gang’s network, associates and absconding members.
Based on these inputs, police are conducting raids at multiple locations to apprehend other gang operatives.
–IANS
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