Four wanted criminals allegedly involved in multiple cases of extortion-cum-murder in Bihar were killed in a shootout with a joint team of the Delhi police and the Bihar police in Rohini in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
The deceased, identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto alias Bimlesh Sahni (25), Manish Pathak (33) and Aman Thakur (21), all residents of Bihar's Sitamarhi district, were part of the 'Sigma Gang', joint commissioner of police (crime), Surender Kumar, said at a press conference.
Ranjan Pathak, the kingpin of the gang carrying a bounty of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his arrest, was reportedly wanted in eight criminal cases.
Describing Ranjan as a "dreaded" criminal, the police said in the last three months, he was involved in five cases, including four for extortion-cum-murder.
In the most recent case on October 13, he demanded extortion money from a man and threatened to kill him if he didn't pay. The call was made after the model code of conduct came into place for next month's Bihar elections on October 6, the officer said.
The rest of gang members also had multiple cases registered against them for extortion and murder.
The encounter, which took place around 2.20 am on Bahadur Shah Marg in Rohini, was one of the biggest carried out in Delhi in recent years, the police said.
About 25 to 30 rounds were fired from the accused's side, while the police fired around 15 to 20 shots.
The encounter took place after the joint team launched an operation to trace the accused, who were reportedly hiding in Delhi for the past several days, planning to carry out criminal activities in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections, a senior police officer said.
The accused were reportedly travelling in a car when police intercepted them.
“The number plate attached to the car appeared to be fake and the car too seemed to be stolen,” a senior police officer said.
The accused allegedly opened fire at the police team, prompting retaliatory action that left all four injured, the officer said.
They were rushed to a hospital in Rohini, where doctors declared them dead, he said, adding that five pistols were recovered from their possession.
The Delhi police tracked the accused's movements for the past three days after receiving inputs from the Bihar police, officials said.
The 243-member Bihar assembly will go to polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting will take place on November 14.