Bikers gang Kingpin, associate shot dead

New Delhi, Aug 25 (UNI) Ending months of chase, police this morning gunned down the kingpin of the infamous 'biker's gang', along with his associate, in an encounter in Badarpur area of South Delhi.

Claiming massive drop in crime rate in the capital with overall heinous crime falling by nearly ten per cent (9.19 %) this year, Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal told the media that Om Prakash, alias Bunty, who had created terror through his 'biker gang' in the past months, was shot dead in an early morning encounter.

''While 26 rounds were fired from Bunty's side, who was accompanied by Rajesh Sharma alias Panni, the police team fired around 20 shots in the encounter which took place around 0530 hrs leading to their death in a godown at village Jaitpur in South Delhi's Badarpur area.'' Both Bunty (30) and his associate Panni (26) carried a reward of Rs 50,000, he said, adding three foreign-made pistols, four magazines, four country-made pistols, several catridges, two button-actuated knives, a khukri, a cellphone and a stolen motorcycle were seized from the 'spot'.

''Four policemen, including the SHO of Nizamuddin police station, were injured in the encounter.'' With today's success, five members of Bunty's 'Biker Gang', including three carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on their head, have now either been arrested or killed.

Bunty had 42 cases against him, including 19 crimes committed in the last nearly two months in Delhi and the NCR region, he said and added that he had come to eliminate two businessmen of Ambedkar Nagar, whom he robbed and shot at some time back, and feared them turning witness against him.

''He would often change his hide-outs all over the National Capital Region (NCR) and note down phone numbers in coded language to avoid detection.'' The Commissioner while informing the media that murders had come down by eleven per cent in the capital, rape by 15 per cent, attempt-to-murder 25 per cent and dacoity by nearly 40 per cent said total fall in the overall heinous crime in Delhi had scaled down by nearly ten per cent.

''We are trying our best to control crime and our success rate in bringing those involved in crime to book makes its obvious that the Delhi Police means business.'' Denying that there was any organised crime or gang in Delhi, Mr Dadwal said crime related murders were merely ten per cent, whereas ''several other factors'' contributed to the rest of the 90 per cent.

''The best deterrent to a crime is working out of cases, in which the Delhi Police were doing an excellent job.'' UNI AN SB GC1750