Uttar Pradesh: Talib and Shahjan, looters who had murdered cricketer Suresh Raina’s uncle in 2020 arrested by police

Suresh Raina with his uncle and aunt (L), one of the arrested accused (R) (source- Dainik Bhasker)

On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two persons for their involvement in the loot and murders at the house of cricketer Suresh Raina’s aunt. The two arrested persons have been identified as Talib and Shahjan who had committed a robbery at Raina’s aunt’s house two years ago in Punjab’s Pathankot district.

The two had also murdered three persons including Raina’s uncle Ashok Kumar and his cousin.

According to the reports, the Police arrested the duo, the members of the Chaymaar gang on Monday evening from Muzzafarnagar after a short scuffle. The duo fired at the police and tried to flee from the spot. However, the Police launched a late night encounter to trap the duo and fired bullets at their legs. The accused Talib and Shahjan have been reported injured and are undergoing treatment at a district hospital. The Police have also recovered 2 pistols, 5 live cartridges, 3 shells, and a bike from the accused.

The police were in search of the members of this gang for two years after they committed a robbery at Raina’s aunt’s house and murdered his uncle, brother, and one more person. SSP Vineet Jaiswal confirmed the incident and said that the police had gotten a tip that the miscreants were roaming in the Kidwainagar area of Muzzafarnagar on Monday with intentions of executing some criminal incident. “Based on the tip, the Police and SOG raided the area on September 19 and arrested the two”, Jaiswal stated.

He added that the duo was spotted behind the police post in Kidwai Nagar. The officers asked them to stop as the duo fired at the Police team and tried to flee from the spot. However, the police launched an encounter operation and fired bullets at the legs of the miscreants to arrest them. “Both the miscreants were injured and were taken to the district hospital. Two pistols and 5 live cartridges, 3 shells, and a bike have been recovered from their possession”, Jaiswal reiterated.

Reports mention that the duo was involved in the robbery and murder at the house of the relatives of cricketer Suresh Raina in Punjab’s Pathankot district. On August 19, 2020, in Tharyal village of Pathankot district, the Chhaymar gang members had entered the house of Suresh Raina’s uncle Ashok Kumar while he was deep asleep at his home. The robbers attacked Kumar and his son named Kaushal during the robbery. While Ashok Kumar who was a government contractor died on the spot, his son Kaushal succumbed to his injuries on August 31, 2020.

Reportedly, one more person had died during the incident and Raina’s aunt, Ashok’s wife Asha Rani was seriously injured. After the incident, the then Chief Minister of Punjab formed an SIT under the leadership of IGP Border Range (Amritsar) to investigate the matter. In this case, the SIT also arrested three suspects on 15 September 2020.

SSP Vineet Jaiswal interrogated the duo arrested on Tuesday who confirmed to have played a crucial role in the incident that happened in the year 2020 in Punjab’s Pathankot. Shahjan alias Golu alias Kaka is resident of a slum village in Saharanpur and Talib alias Faizan alias Asim is resident of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.

In July 2021, one Chajju Chaimar, the mastermind of the crime, was arrested by the police. The criminals were from the nomadic Chaimar tribe.

During interrogation, Shahjan confirmed that he was involved in the murder of Raina’s uncle in Pathankot in 2020 and the robbery that took place in his house. The miscreant was on the run since then. According to the reports, the now arrested miscreants were also wanted in several other cases of robbery, dacoity, and murder. The Police arrested the duo from Muzzafarnagar on Monday and are investigating the matter.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia