ATS to help Jamshedpur police nab gangster Akhilesh Singh

The Jharkhand police on Thursday deployed the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) to assist the Jamshedpur police to arrest gangster Akhilesh Singh, the suspected mastermind behind the murder of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader-turned-gangster Upendra Singh inside a city court.

Upendra Singh was gunned down inside the court premises on Wednesday.

State additional director general of police (ADGP) Ajay Kumar Singh ordered the city police to trace and arrest Akhilesh Singh.

Sonu Singh alias Vicky, one of the two shooters arrested by the police in connection with the killing, has revealed that Akhilesh Singh was the mastermind of the murder plan, police said.

The duo has revealed that Akhilesh Singh’s associate Pankaj Singh paid them Rs 2 lakh on Tuesday night as an advance and handed over two new mobile phones on Wednesday morning, police said.

“We’ve deployed a team of ATS led by superintendent of police Dhananjay Kumar to assist the city police in tracing Akhilesh Singh and his gang members,” said ADGP Ajay Kumar Singh.

“ The ATS team is already in Jamshedpur and collaborating with city superintendent of police Prashant Anand,” he said.

“Sonu alias Vicky has revealed crucial information about the possible whereabouts of the members of the Akhilesh Singh gang and we are keeping a tab on them.” Singh told Hindustan Times.

He further said that another shooter Vinod Singh alias Mogli was critical in an intensive care unit at the Tata Main Hospital with gunshot wounds on his back.

“We’re waiting for him to recover to interrogate him. Prima facie, the motive behind the murder appeared to be rivalry for dominance over extortion, land deals, transport business and railway contracts,” said the ADGP, who has been camping in the city along with Kolhan deputy inspector general of police Shambhu Thakur.

Jamshedpur senior superintendent of police Anoop T Matthew said apart from the two arrested shooters, they have identified the other members of Akhilesh gang involved in reccee and providing logistical support .

“We’ve suspended two sub-inspectors of police, two havildars and three constables for laxity in court security. Now an inspector rank official will be in charge of the court security,” he said.

Akhilesh Singh has more than 44 cases of murder, extortion under the Arms Act, pending against him.