Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) gunned down “dreaded gangster” Anil Dujana in an alleged encounter in Meerut Thursday.
According to Dujana’s lawyer, he was set to surrender at a court in Gautam Budh Nagar in a criminal intimidation case the next day. He had been released from Tihar jail on bail in another case on 18 April.
This is believed to be the UP Police’s 184th encounter in six years of Yogi Adityanath’s government, with the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad and his accomplice being encounter no. 183.
The killing comes weeks after Atiq Ahmed and his brother were shot dead by three men posing as journalists, while the two were in police custody. The STF completed 25 years Thursday.
Dujana was on the UP government’s list of most wanted mafias and criminals from the Gautam Budh Nagar commissionerate area — issued on 18 April — along with gangsters Sunder Bhati, Singhraj Bhati, Amit Kasana, Anil Bhati, Randeep Bhati and Manoj alias Aase.
“We have got information that Anil Dujana, who was a dreaded gangster of western UP and who has many cases lodged against him including 18 cases of murder, has been killed in an encounter with the Meerut unit of the STF. Rest of the details are awaited,” UP STF chief Amitabh Yash told mediapersons Thursday.
However, Dujana’s lawyer Jitendra Nagar claimed that he was picked up by the STF from outside Delhi’s Karkardooma court and later shown to have been killed in an encounter.
“He (Dujana) was set to surrender in Gautam Budh Nagar’s Surajpur court on Friday. Today, he was in Karkardooma court and had asked his lawyers to file a surrender application there as well. When he came out of Karkardooma court, he was picked up by the Meerut STF and shown to be killed in an encounter,” Nagar told ThePrint.
He further said that Dujana had been out on bail. “Today, Dujana had gone to the Karkardooma court and told his lawyers that he would return by 2 pm. He had also told his lawyers to file a surrender application in that court on his behalf. He was accompanied by two persons, Rakam Singh and Yogesh Ghitora, who have been detained by the STF. He had already filed a surrender application in the Surajpur court, which was set to come up on Friday,” the lawyer added.
Dujana had 64 cases of murder, extortion, attempt to murder, etc. lodged against him across different police stations in western UP and Delhi, according to police records. He had been acquitted in 25 cases, and convicted in an Arms Act case lodged in Gautam Budh Nagar lawyer.
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‘Murder, extortion, intimidation’
Anil Nagar, better known as Anil Dujana, was arrested for the first time in 2012, in connection with the murder of a trader from Muzaffarnagar called Robin Tyagi. He spent nine years, one month and 20 days in different prisons across UP till his release in February 2021.
Dujana was first lodged in the Muzaffarnagar jail, and was transferred to the Banda jail in 2014 after his name surfaced in the sensational murder case of BJP leader Vijay Pandit.
After spending three years in the Banda jail, he was transferred to the Maharajganj jail on the state government’s orders. However, he was brought to Delhi in connection with another case on the basis of a B-warrant (which enables police to question an accused lodged in jail in a different state).
Dujana was released from Delhi’s Mandoli Jail in February 2021 after he got bail in various cases lodged against him. According to his lawyer Jitendra Nagar, two fake cases were registered against him by Surajpur and Dadri police after he got out.
“After his release from jail, Surajpur police lodged a case of extortion against him while the Dadri police lodged a case of criminal intimidation against him. Both cases were false and the victim who alleged intimidation had already testified in court. So, it had no meaning,” Nagar said.
While the Bulandshahr police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for nabbing him, Noida police had a reward of Rs 50,000 on him.
In January 2022, Dujana was once again arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch from Mandawali area along with two others — Sachin Gujjar and Rakam Singh — reportedly on grounds that he was planning to commit a murder.
Marriage in court & rivalry with Sunder Bhati
Dujana had made headlines when he got married to his girlfriend Pooja in court premises on 15 February, 2019. He had come to Gautam Budh Nagar’s Surajpur court for a hearing when the marriage was solemnised with permission from the court.
The most sensational case that he is remembered for, however, is the attack on dreaded gangster and his arch rival Sunder Bhati.
Dujana was a part of the gang led by Naresh Bhati, who was a sworn rival of Sundar Bhati.
Naresh, a former nagar panchayat chairman, was killed by Sunder in 2004, leading to the former’s brother Randeep Bhati swearing to take revenge.
Randeep and Naresh’s nephew Amit Kasana reportedly included Anil Dujana in a plan to eliminate Sunder, and in 2011, the trio attacked Sunder Bhati at his brother-in-law’s wedding, opening indiscriminate fire on him with AK-47s. While Sunder survived, three people were killed in that incident.
Panchayat poll win
Soon after his release from jail in February 2021, Dujana and his wife Pooja visited his native village in Gautam Budh Nagar district, sparking speculation that he wanted to stand for the zila panchayat elections.
Dujana had then also visited a revered temple of the Gujjar community in the village, where leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee have paid obeisance in the past.
Despite a criminal record, Dujana got considerable support from his village and surrounding areas. In 2016, he managed to win in the panchayat elections as an independent candidate, by a margin of over 10,000 votes, even as he was lodged in Banda district jail. He defeated Sangram Singh, the only person standing against him, who reportedly campaigned wearing a bulletproof jacket.
However, in 2021, less than a week after announcing that his wife will fight the panchayat elections, Dujana was booked for allegedly threatening the wife of a slain village pradhan against appearing before the Surajpur court in a murder case lodged against him in Dadri.
An FIR was lodged under IPC section 506 (criminal intimidation) at Badalpur police station of Gautam Budh Nagar on a complaint from Sangeeta Tomar, who alleged that Dujana and his associates threatened her on 4 April 2021 from testifying in court in the alleged murder case of her husband Jaichand.
Dujana’s lawyer Jitendra Nagar claimed that the former’s wife Pooja decided not contest elections owing to pressure from the police and administration.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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