Jharkhand criminal attempts to flee from IGI airport in Delhi, held

Jamshedpur: Fugitive criminal, Santosh Thapa (41), who has been evading arrest since 2020, has been arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on September 2, Seraikela SP Mukesh Lunayat said on Friday.
A team arrested Thapa as he was about to board a flight to Kathmandu. The Delhi police and CISF assisted the Seraikela police in the arrest.Thapa was brought to the city on Thursday night and produced in court on Friday.
“Thapa, a resident of Bagunnagar area of Sidhgora in Steel City, is wanted by the Mango (Jamshedpur) and Adityapur (Seraikela) police in seven different cases under various sections of the IPC (now BNS) and Arms Act," the SP said.
Further probe will reveal his involvement in other related cases. The SP said Thapa, in collaboration with property dealers, would purchase land in prime locations at low prices by exerting unlawful pressure on the landowners. His associates would threaten the owners to sell their land or face consequences. Once the land was acquired, Thapa would make significant profit by striking deals with property dealers. The police will question the land brokers and property dealers connected to Thapa as the investigation progresses.
The police received information about Thapa's whereabouts from Gudu Pandey, another criminal held by Seraikela cops in early hours of September 2. A record of an unknown mobile number that recently transferred Rs 30,000 to Gudu's account led cops to Thapa. According to police, Gudu is an accomplice of Thapa.