Nearly two years after he had made a dramatic escape from a police station in Alwar district, dreaded gangster Vikram alias Papla Gurjar was finally arrested by the Rajasthan police on January 28.
He was arrested from Maharashtra by a team of police personnel from Rajasthan, who had camped at the western state since the past one week, keenly, enquiring about the fugitive’s whereabouts and also keeping an eye on them, said the police.
In a press conference held at the police headquarters in Jaipur on January 28, Rajasthan director general of police (DGP) ML Lathar told mediapersons that along with Papla, the police have also apprehended his female friend with whom he was staying in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
The arrest of Papla, who is a native of Mahendragarh in Haryana and is wanted in cases of heinous offences such as murder is significant because back in September 2019, in what seemed to be an open challenge to the Rajasthan police, he had managed to escape from the Behror police station with the help of his friends who attacked the police station located at the heart of the city. Since then, a reward of Rs. 5 lakh was declared by the police on his arrest.
The day before Papla was arrested in 2019, the Rajasthan police had rounded him up to the police station after finding him to be suspicious during a nightly patrol. At that time, Papla was also found to be in possession of more than Rs. 30 lakhs worth cash.
Things had gone murky from here onwards, as following the escape of Papla, the Rajasthan police had said that it was investigating the role of some of its own personnel which was questionable.
On the early morning of September 6, gunshots echoed inside the Behror police station in Alwar district when six men armed with AK 47 rifles barged in and started firing. As the police personnel ran for cover, they freed Papla and escaped in a car.
This dramatic escape of Papla from police custody had stunned the Rajasthan government and the administration and the opposition had taken this opportunity to criticise it, alleging that the law and order situation in the state was deteriorating.
During his interaction with the media on January 28, DGP Lathar said that Papla was apprehended by a team of emergency response team (ERT) commandos who had gone to Maharashtra along with the team.
The DGP said that Papla was found in possession of a fake Aadhar card and had also tried to escape when the police surrounded the building where he was living in. He sustained injuries on his legs and hands after he tried to jump from the building but was later arrested by the police.
The officials said that Papla will be interrogated to know more about the details of his escape along with the activities of his gang.
30 members of his gang, including those who helped him to escape have already been arrested by the Rajasthan police.
