After a 10,000-kilometer chase across 13 states, Haryana’s most wanted criminal and his associates were finally nabbed by Delhi’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (Counter Intelligence, Special Cell) Manishi Chandra. Remembered as one of the most dangerous and referred to as ‘ghost’ criminal for his ability to escape from anywhere and then vanishing for years, Sandeep alias Kala Jatheri carried a reward of ₹7 lakh on his head and was wanted in nearly 40 cases of dacoity, robbery, extortion and attempt to murder.
FROM MOBILE SNATCHER TO GANGSTER
Jatheri’s first registered crime was when he and his associates snatched a mobile phone from one Shahar Khan at a liquor shop in Delhi’s Samaipur Badli in 2004. He was caught red-handed and sent to jail.
His name was added to the list of Haryana Police’s most wanted in 2012, when he and his three associates rammed a prison van into a truck near Dulina village of Haryana’s Jhajjar district and opened fire, killing three prisoners — all rivals. Two policemen were also injured in the incident. Jatheri was later arrested and convicted for life in the case.
Kala Jatheri escaped from the Haryana Police’s custody in Faridabad, after his seven associates stormed the prison van carrying the gangster to Bhondsi Jail from the Faridabad court on February 1, 2020.
After his escape in February last year, Jatheri was heading a major international crime alliance, with links to Virender Pratap aka Kala Rana (operating from Thailand), Goldy Brar (based in Canada), and Monty (operating from the UK). This alliance was involved in high-profile extortions, interstate bootlegging, especially in dry states, illegal firearms smuggling, and land-grabbing.
OP D-24
Sharing the details of the long hunt, the police said 30 personnel of special cell were involved in the operation that continued for almost four months. The operation was codenamed ‘Op D-24’ to signify that the “criminal was 24 hours ahead of the police”.
The gangster was in the disguise of a Sikh man to avoid identification and was traveling in an SUV with his close associate Anuradha Chaudhary towards Punjab, the police said. Chaudhary was associated with Rajasthan gangster Anand Pal Singh, who was killed in an encounter in the state in 2017. The Rajasthan Police declared ₹10,000 reward on her arrest. Jatheri addressed Chaudhary as his “Revolver Rani” while she was famous among Rajasthan’s ganglords as “Madam Minz”, the police said.
THE HUNT
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Counter Intelligence, Special Cell) Manishi Chandra said Jatheri lived like a “ghost” as he never showed up since his escape from police custody in 2020. To divert the attention of law enforcement agencies, Jatheri’s gang members perpetuated the rumor that he was operating the gang from a foreign country, said Mr. Chandra.
“The first lead came four months ago when our team received technical inputs about the presence of Jatheri’s gang members in Goa. Although not sure, we sent a team to verify the inputs. The team members got some leads there. They found at least two vehicles with Haryana’s registration number. From Goa, the search led our personnel to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi,” said Mr. Chandra.
The police team found CCTV footage from Tirupati, where Chaudhary was spotted with some gang members. The teams continued following the vehicles that were being used by them. After following them for nearly 10,000 kilometers, the team received specific inputs that Chaudhary and Jatheri were traveling in an SUV towards Punjab.
“Our team followed the SUV and caught them at a Dhaba near Sarsawa toll plaza on Saharanpur-Yamuna Nagar highway in Uttar Pradesh,” said DCP Chandra, adding that the two were produced before a Delhi court that sent them to police custody for 14 days.
The gangster was finally arrested along with his close partner, bringing down the curtain on, what police officers claimed, a 10,000 kilometers chase!
