Chhota Rajan gang member on the run for 16 years arrested in Mumbai

A member of the Chhota Rajan gang, who was absconding in an attempt to murder case for 16 years, has been apprehended from the eastern suburbs here, police said on Friday.

A team from the Deonar police station nabbed the accused, Vilas Balaram Pawar alias Raju (62), in the Chembur area on Thursday evening, an official said.

He said Pawar is involved in serious crimes such as murder and attempt to murder and has cases registered against him under the Arms Act.

The accused had allegedly shot and injured a man in Ghatla village in 1992 and was arrested in the case, released on bail in 2008, and has remained absconding since, the official said.

He kept changing his locations to evade arrest, he said.

The official said Pawar lived in the Nerul area of Navi Mumbai and supplied labour to construction sites.

He said the accused was an active member of the Chhota Rajan gang and was involved in gunning down a man in Dadar in the 1990s, the official said.

The official said Pawar was produced before a court on Friday and was remanded to judicial custody.