UP police attach assets worth Rs 3 crore of history-sheeters in Mathura and Mainpuri

Agra: The UP police have attached properties and assets worth Rs 3.20 crore of five criminals in the past one week as part of a statewide crackdown on criminals booked under the Gangsters Act. The latest development comes after eight policemen were killed during a failed raid to arrest gangster Vikas Dubey from a village in Kanpur.

According to a senior official, the aim behind attaching the properties is to send a strong message to the criminals by striking them economically. The operation against criminals and mafias involved in criminal activities will continue in future, he said.

The clampdown is being carried out mainly under section 14 (1) of the Gangsters Act, which allows attachment of illegal properties, in order to effectively curb gangsters, mafias and criminals and their associates, the officials said.

In Mainpuri, a liquor mafia and criminal Dalveer Singh Lodhi’s illegal properties worth Rs 1 crore was attached on Thursday. Similarly, properties of two other liquor mafia operators, Neeraj Yadav and Raj Kapoor, worth Rs 60 lakh and Rs 35 lakh, respectively, were attached by the police earlier this week.

Mainpuri superintendent of police (SP) Ajay Kumar told TOI that five more liquor mafias in the district have been identified for similar action. He added that more than 50 cases are under investigation but of these 10 cases were ready for attachment of illegal assets.

In the neighbouring district of Mathura, police have attached properties worth Rs 1.15 crore belonging to a notorious oil mafia operator Manoj Goyal. Properties worth Rs 10 lakh of another criminal, Khemchand, have also been attached.

Mathura SP Guarav Grover said that any criminal can be “crushed” by striking him financially. The police are identifying illegal properties of all criminals for further action. He told TOI that more than 50 cases of oil theft are registered against Manoj Goyal at various police stations in Mathura. Goyal was booked under the Gangsters Act in 2017.