An official announced that five members of a gang from Maharashtra police had been detained in connection with murder and robbery crimes that occurred along the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border.
Maharashtra and Rajasthan police in a joint operation apprehended the accused from a hotel room in the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district on Sunday night, he said.
The accused had allegedly opened fire at a sub-inspector by snatching his service revolver during a chase in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district three days ago, the official said.
The gang’s kingpin Kamal Singh Rana has 37 serious offences to his name and the police in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had put a bounty of Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively on his head, he said. Rajasthan police, who were also hunting for the gang, received information about its movement and the accused were tracked to Shirdi, he said.
The Jaipur police’s crime branch contacted their counterparts in Ahmednagar and traced the gang to a hotel. The quick response team (QRT) was roped in for the operation, as the accused were armed, the official said. The accused used to travel in an SUV, which had nameplates with the words sarpanch and jaat on them, he said. The gang’s kingpin Rana has cases of murder, robbery, theft and also offences under the Arms Act registered against him, the official said.