Delhi Police arrests 'proclaimed offender' from Mumbai

Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a criminal-turned-builder who was living in Mumbai for the last 15 years, officials said on Saturday.

Imran Hashmi was involved in 26 cases of dacoity, robbery, theft and cheating and those registered under the Arms Act in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bhisham Singh said Hashmi was a member of the Ramzan Pehalwan gang and was declared a ‘proclaimed offender’ (PO) in three cases of dacoity and theft in Delhi 15 years ago.

In November 2009, the Crime Branch arrested him along with four of his associates — Ramzan Pahalwan, Javed, Irshad and Nazim alias Guddu — while they were planning to commit dacoity in a house. Four country-made pistols and seven cartridges and various tools were seized from them, the DCP said.

Hashmi was granted bail in the case but he did not appear in court again. Later, he was arrested in two more cases of dacoity and vehicle theft. He got bail in these cases as well but never appeared in court again. The court then declared him a PO in these three cases, Singh said.

A tip-off was received that Hashmi shifted to Mumbai to evade arrest and had become a builder, police said.

On November 20, a raid was conducted on Hashmi’s house in Mumbai assuming that he would be home due to the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The assumption proved right and he was successfully arrested from a Cooperative Group Housing Society in Wadala, another officer said.

During interrogation, Hashmi told police that he left his native place Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh and settled in Mumbai to evade trial in the cases against him, the officer said.