New Delhi: The death of Lalan Singh in a police encounter in Saharanpur has marked the end of Bihar’s infamous “Brothers Gang”, with three Singh brothers now dead and a fourth lodged in jail, closing the chapter on a criminal network that had terrorised police forces in UP and Bihar for years by killing Assistant Sub-Inspector-level officers and stealing their government-issued firearms.
Lalan, who had a bounty of Rs 1.25 lakh on his head, was injured during a joint operation conducted by the Lucknow Special Task Force (STF) and Saharanpur police in the intervening night of 21 and 22 June. He was taken to hospital for treatment but was declared dead by doctors.
“Along with his gang, he had committed heinous crimes such as the murder of two police sub-inspectors, a bank cashier, and a security guard, among a total of seven individuals, as well as looting government weapons, cash van robberies, and bank heists in various incidents,” the Uttar Pradesh Police stated on X.
Speaking to ThePrint about the encounter, STF Additional Director General of Police Amitabh Yash said Lalan and his gang were intercepted on the Sarsawa-Nakur Road by an STF team. During the exchange of fire, Lalan sustained gunshot injuries. He was rushed to the Community Health Centre in Sarsawa and later referred to the District Hospital, Saharanpur, where doctors declared him dead.
Two of Lalan’s brothers, Rajneesh and Manish, had died in 2022 following the gang’s encounter with the Varanasi Police. At the time, they had opened fire at the police, got injured in the retaliatory firing and died during treatment.
“Lalan Singh alias Lallan managed to escape from the spot. In this encounter, the looted pistol of sub-inspector Ajay Yadav was recovered from the accused,” a senior UP Police officer told ThePrint.
According to the police, Lalan and his brothers— born in Anandgolwa village in Bihar’s Samastipur district—rose to notoriety more than a decade ago by targeting policemen who were physically overweight, and looting their service revolvers and pistols in the Purvanchal belt. They are known to have killed two ASI-level officers and injured another.
“Bihar’s ‘Brothers Gang’ had become a nightmare for police and inspectors, primarily targeting police officers and stealing their official weapons. The gang was run by two brothers from Mohiuddin Nagar (Anandgolwa village),” the officer said.
The main members, he explained, were four brothers “who were terrorising the entire Bihar”—Rajneesh Singh, mastermind of the gang, Manish Singh, the shooter, Lalan Singh, who used to shoot directly at constables, and Rajesh Singh.
The officer said they had a strange pattern of targeting police officers. They specifically targeted ASIs and sub-inspectors—and primarily those who they knew would not attack or retaliate.
“The main motive was to loot weapons. They would suddenly attack the inspector, shoot him and then flee after snatching his service revolver or pistol,” added the officer.
According to the officer, the brothers used the weapons looted from police inspectors to carry out major bank robberies and murders so that the police could be entangled in the ballistic examination of the arms.
Rajesh is in jail, the police said.
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West UP tip-off
Sources in the STF said they had been tracking Lalan for months, but there was no conclusive information on his whereabouts.
Last week, however, the STF received a tip-off that Lalan was now planning to enter western UP. “The tip-off revealed that there was a possibility that Lalan might be coming to Saharanpur. Teams were formed to apprehend him,” a source told ThePrint.
On why west UP, the source said the region stood out because there was a lot of money flowing there. “New businesses have come up. There are sugarcane, jewellery and jaggery businesses to tap into. Most importantly, all trade is in cash. He knew entering this region would make money.”
UP and Bihar Police records show Lalan as wanted in 13 criminal cases, including of murder and Arms Act violations.
In 2016, he and his gang allegedly shot at and injured ASI Bhuvenshwar Singh in Nalanda, then shot ASI Suresh Thakur dead in Patna. They also shot dead ASI R.R. Chaudhary and looted official pistols in all three cases.
Lalan was also allegedly involved in robbery cases at PNB and of cash vans in Nalanda and Patna, respectively, in 2017.
In one incident involving sub-inspector Ajay Yadav in 2022, the police officer had gone to see his under-construction house in Jagatpur Police Station area. Lalan, riding a bike, along with Manish and Rajneesh, chased him, stopped him, shot him in the chest, looted his official pistol and wallet, and fled.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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