Chhenu gang’s hitman held after gun battle with Delhi cops in UP’s Amroha

A dreaded gangster belonging to the notorious Chhenu Pehalwan gang was arrested on early Wednesday morning from western Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha after a 20-minute exchange of fire with a joint team of Delhi and UP police.

Anwar alias Hatela was wanted in over 10 cases in both Delhi and UP and is suspected to have killed two gangsters from the rival Abdul Nasir gang in a span of four hours in northeast Delhi in October last year. Police said Anwar is one of the main ‘hitmen’ of the Chhenu gang. He carried a reward of Rs 1.25 lakh on his head.

The rivalry between Chhenu gang, which is led by Irfan alias Chhenu Pehalwan and Abdul Nasir gang led to a series of murders in northeast Delhi last year. The two gangs entered into a rivalry in 2012 over establishing control on the betting business in the Delhi district.

Pramod Singh Kushwah, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said his team was looking for Anwar for the last three months and had collected information about his hideouts in Delhi and Amroha. On Tuesday, the team learnt that Anwar, along with his wife, and an associate, would be coming to Delhi in a Santro car through Amroha bypass. They alerted the UP Police.

“A 33-member joint team was formed and traps were laid at different locations on Amroha-Delhi road. Around 4 am, Anwar was seen driving a Santro car and was signalled to stop. However, he tried to escape by ramming the barricades with his car,” said Kushwah.

Four police vehicles chased Anwar’s car for almost three kilometers and eventually surrounded him, forcing him to stop the vehicle. The police asked them to surrender but Anwar and his associate came out and started indiscriminate fire on the police party.

More than 30 rounds were exchanged between the police and the criminals during the encounter that lasted for almost 20 minutes. The criminals fired at least 15 bullets from two pistols, said police. While Anwar was hit thrice in his legs, the station house officer (SHO) of Amroha Dehat police station was shot in his hand.

Two Delhi Police special cell inspectors escaped despite being hit because of bulletproof vests.Anwar’s associate, whose identity has not been disclosed by police, managed to escape, firing at the police party.

Besides Anwar, his wife, Ruby, has also been arrested. A sophisticated carbine along with 20 cartridges and one semi-automatic pistol with five bullets were seized from Anwar.

“The carbine was not used in the firing,” said DCP Kushwah.He said they were interrogating Anwar to know from where he got the carbine.

“The SHO and Anwar were admitted to a local government hospital from where Anwar was shifted to Meerut hospital,” said the DCP.