Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch was in for a surprise after Vikas Jadhav, a former henchman of underworld gangster Hemant Pujari landed in its custody in an unusual manner. Pujari is wanted by the police in several cases of extortion and assault since 2009.
At a spot at Nirmal Nagar in Khar (east), where a police team had kept watch for him on receipt of information about his possible visit there, Jadhav duly arrived in an inebriated state and collapsed. The police team, who were in their civvies, nabbed him easily. Several attempts to track down the accused and nab him in the past had failed to bear fruit as he kept changing his location and look.
The officials finally laid their hands on Jadhav in his den of Nirmal Nagar, where he had been extorting money from people after jumping bail in an attempted robbery case in 2009. A team of unit VIII nabbed Jadhav after laying a trap in his home turf, where he had come there to collect money. “There had been information in the past that Jadhav visits the railway colony area, where he had grown up. He would, however, keep the visits short and secretive and not be there for more than 25-30 minutes. We decided not to let him slip away this time. We were however lucky as he was drunk and he just came and collapsed at the spot,” said a crime branch officer.
The officials conducted primary verification and after the person turned out to be Jadhav, they took him into custody. The last attempt to catch Jadhav was six months ago by unit X of the crime branch, however, he succeeded in giving them a slip, officials said.
“He had been changing his hair styles and sometimes would also shave his head. He was staying on rent at various locations in Mira Road.” added the officer.
