Rajasthan gangster "Bika" wanted in three states held by Gujarat ATS

A Rajasthan-based gangster, wanted in more than 30 cases including murder and jailbreak, has been arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) here, officials said on Wednesday.

Ahmedabad: A Rajasthan-based gangster, wanted in more than 30 cases including murder and jailbreak, has been arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) here, officials said on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, an ATS team laid a trap at Hirawadi crossroads in the city on Monday evening and nabbed Arvind Singh Bika, a native of Gulabgunj village in Sirohi district of Rajasthan, an official release said.

Bika was on the run after escaping from prison in Deesa town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district in 2017. Two pistols, a country-made gun and five live cartridges were seized from his possession, it added. A fresh case under the Arms Act was registered against Bika who is wanted in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Kerala in 35 criminal cases, the ATS release said.

His gang, consisting of around 15 persons, was involved in serious crimes like murder, loot, theft, extortion, jail-break and firing on police to free gang members, it said. Bika was also fond of posting threatening videos and photos on social media where he posed with weapons, it added.

In 2016, Bika allegedly opened fire on a Rajasthan police team near Aburoad and freed murder accused Surendrasinh Novi from their custody. In the same year, Bika and his gang robbed an employee of an angadia (courier) firm in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad. Later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Rajasthan for firing on a youngster in Sirohi.

In 2017, he was arrested by Gujarat Police for a bank robbery in Dhanera town of Banaskantha district, but he escaped from Deesa jail and had been on the run since then. In 2018, Bika and his gang robbed an Angadia firm employee, a petrol pump and an employee of a cooperative society in different parts of Gujarat, the ATS said. (PTI)