Notorious drug smuggler arrested after shootout in Jodhpur: Police

Jodhpur, Dec 25 (PTI) The Rajasthan police on Saturday nabbed an alleged drug smuggler, involved in a shootout with a police team in Bhilwara in April this year, leading to the deaths of two constables and foiling the police bid to arrest him.

Ajmer range’s Inspector General of Police S Sengathir said drug smuggler Rajuram alias Fauji was nabbed by a joint team of Ajmer and Jodhpur police on early Saturday morning from Khokharia village under Banar police station of Jodhpur.

He was arrested after a gunfight with the police team in which he suffered a bullet injury in his leg, said the IGP, adding the accused has been admitted to a hospital and is out of danger.

Sengathir said a special team had been constituted to nab Fauji and it had been on his lookout at all possible hideouts in different states of the country.

“We recently got the information that Fauji has been hiding in a house in Khokharia village in Jodhpur district. This information was shared with the Jodhpur police and a siege was laid around the house on Friday night, he was believed to be hidden in,” said Sengathir.

Since he was out of the house then, the police team kept a night-long watch on the house and tried to nab him when he returned on Saturday morning on a motorcycle, the IGP said.

The moment, he saw the police, he began firing, forcing police to resort to retaliatory firing in which he suffered a bullet injury and fell from the motorcycle, DCP (Jodhpur East) Bhuvan Bhushan Yadav, who led the operation in Jodhpur, said.

Police have also detained the house owner Lunaram for providing shelter to a criminal, the IGP said, adding he too is being interrogated about other gangsters he might have sheltered.

Ajmer Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma, who was posted as Bhilwara SP earlier in April, said Fauji led a gang of drug smugglers in Bhilwara while one Sunil Dudi headed another gang.

Both were involved in transporting a drug consignment in April when the police had raided the truck carrying the contraband but Fauji had been able to slip out of the dragnet after resorting to the firing in which two constables, Omkar Raika and Pawan Kumar, were killed, the Ajmer SP said.

Though the police had been able to arrest several persons in the raid earlier, Fauji had escaped and been evading arrest. PTI CORR RAX RAX