Serial killer nabbed: Ajay Lamba aka 'Bansi' arrested after 25 years on the run;accused of murdering taxi drivers in Delhi and Uttarakhand, dumping bodies in hills
NEW DELHI: A man who had been absconding for 25 years in connection with multiple robbery-cum-murder cases has been arrested by Delhi Police .
The accused, Ajay Lamba — also known as Bansi — was declared a proclaimed offender and was wanted in four cases registered between 1999 and 2001 in Delhi and Uttarakhand.
Police said he was involved in a series of brutal killings where taxi drivers were hired and later murdered, with their vehicles looted and sold across the border.
Arrest and past crimes
Lamba, a resident of Krishna Nagar in Delhi, was arrested by the Crime Branch’s team following sustained technical and manual surveillance.
According to officials, he was wanted in a murder case registered at New Ashok Nagar police station.
“He had been evading arrest since 2001 and was declared a proclaimed offender in all four cases,” a senior officer said.
Lamba had dropped out of school after Class VI and was declared a "bad character" by Vikas Puri police in his early years. In 1996, he changed his name and moved to Bareilly, where he teamed up with Dhirendra and Dilip Negi.
The trio’s modus operandi, police said, involved hiring taxis, killing the drivers, looting the vehicles, and dumping the bodies in isolated mountainous regions to avoid detection. The stolen vehicles were then allegedly resold in Nepal.
Life in hiding
Police say Lamba lived in Nepal from 2008 to 2018 before settling in Dehradun with his family. In 2020, he allegedly became involved in the interstate ganja supply network, sourcing from Odisha to Delhi and other states.
He was arrested in 2021 in a narcotics case under the NDPS Act by Sagarpur police in Delhi, and again in a jewellery shop dacoity case in Behrampur, Odisha in 2024. He was out on bail in both cases.
Police said he never disclosed his real identity or his absconding status during either arrest
The accused, Ajay Lamba — also known as Bansi — was declared a proclaimed offender and was wanted in four cases registered between 1999 and 2001 in Delhi and Uttarakhand.
Police said he was involved in a series of brutal killings where taxi drivers were hired and later murdered, with their vehicles looted and sold across the border.
Arrest and past crimes
Lamba, a resident of Krishna Nagar in Delhi, was arrested by the Crime Branch’s team following sustained technical and manual surveillance.
According to officials, he was wanted in a murder case registered at New Ashok Nagar police station.
“He had been evading arrest since 2001 and was declared a proclaimed offender in all four cases,” a senior officer said.
Lamba had dropped out of school after Class VI and was declared a "bad character" by Vikas Puri police in his early years. In 1996, he changed his name and moved to Bareilly, where he teamed up with Dhirendra and Dilip Negi.
The trio’s modus operandi, police said, involved hiring taxis, killing the drivers, looting the vehicles, and dumping the bodies in isolated mountainous regions to avoid detection. The stolen vehicles were then allegedly resold in Nepal.
Life in hiding
Police say Lamba lived in Nepal from 2008 to 2018 before settling in Dehradun with his family. In 2020, he allegedly became involved in the interstate ganja supply network, sourcing from Odisha to Delhi and other states.
He was arrested in 2021 in a narcotics case under the NDPS Act by Sagarpur police in Delhi, and again in a jewellery shop dacoity case in Behrampur, Odisha in 2024. He was out on bail in both cases.
Police said he never disclosed his real identity or his absconding status during either arrest
Next Story