2 Sunil Rathi gang members held with illegal arms in Dehradun

Dehradun: A joint team of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and Dehradun Police arrested two active members of the Sunil Rathi gang and seized illegal arms during a checking drive in Rajpur area, officials said on Friday.The accused—Bhanu Chaudhary of Saharanpur and Paras of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh—were intercepted on Feb 26 while they were travelling in an SUV. Police seized two illegal .32 bore pistols and seven live cartridges from their possession.An FIR was registered at Rajpur police station under section 111(3) of the BNS and section 3/25 of the Arms Act.Officials said Paras had earlier worked as a shooter for the Mukhtar Ansari gang and the Sanjeev Jeeva gang, and joined the Rathi gang after their deaths. Acting on instructions from jailed gangster Sunil Rathi, the duo allegedly interfered in disputed high-value land deals in Dehradun and Haridwar and extorted money from businessmen. Police said fear of the gangster prevented victims from lodging complaints.A senior officer said the accused could have carried out a major crime in Dehradun. Mobile phone analysis showed Paras was in regular contact with Rathi and frequently visited him in jail along with co-accused Bhanu. During questioning, police also found out their alleged links with a Haridwar-based disputed property dealer earlier jailed in a murder case.Paras has multiple criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and Arms Act offences, registered in Muzaffarnagar and Dehradun. Police said the arrests were part of an intensified statewide crackdown on criminals, and further investigation is underway.