Mumbai Police have arrested Prakash Ratilal Hingu (63), a fugitive gangster of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, who was on the run for 29 years. He was nabbed from Hubballi, Karnataka, in a joint operation led by Senior Police Inspector Arvind Chandanshive of N.M. Joshi Marg Police Station and executed by Assistant Police Inspector Somnath Deshmane.
Prakash Hingu, a notorious member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, had been living in Karnataka under a false identity for nearly three decades. Originally from Juhu Lane, Andheri West, Mumbai, Hingu was once an active gangster in the underworld.
In 1996, he was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch and later sent to judicial custody in Arthur Road Jail. During this time, a gang war erupted inside the prison between members of the Dawood gang and Chhota Rajan gang, following their fallout after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.
After the 1993 bomb blasts, Chhota Rajan parted ways with Dawood Ibrahim and vowed to eliminate him. This rivalry spilled into Arthur Road Jail in 1996, where members of both gangs launched violent attacks on each other.
A case was registered at N.M. Joshi Marg Police Station against members of both gangs, with Prakash Hingu named as an accused. He was arrested but later released on bail, following which he absconded. Due to his repeated absence from court hearings, he was declared a proclaimed offender.
Despite several attempts, police were unable to trace him. However, recently, a confidential informant tipped off the Mumbai Police about Hingu's whereabouts in Hubballi, Karnataka. Acting swiftly, a team led by API Somnath Deshmane tracked him down and arrested him.
After successfully bringing him back to Mumbai, police have formally re-arrested him in connection with the 1996 case. Further investigations are underway.