Cash-strapped gang targets doctors in region

MEERUT: After a crackdown on the dreaded Uddham Singh gang of western UP and arrest of almost a dozen of its shooters in the last one year, the pulverized gang, desperate to regain its ‘lost glory’ envisaged a deadly plan to target the doctor community of the district.
However, the alert STF foiled the very first attempt and arrested four of its members from Meerut.A fifth, Singh’s wife, was arrested on Sunday night from Lucknow. Uddham Singh who was till recently lodged in Meerut jail was transferred to Lucknow jail.
At a press conference held by inspector-general of police (IGP) Meerut zone, Sujeet Pandey, the official informed, “On April 25, members of the Uddham Singh gang had fired shots at the ultrasound centre of Dr Vinod Kumar when he refused to pay extortion money of Rs 10 lakh to the gang. On Sunday, the field unit of STF got a tipoff that the shooters were going to reach boundary road in Lalkurti at 9 pm. A trap was laid by STF and Lalkurti police and four shooters were arrested.”
The arrested criminals include Vidit Vihan and Anil Singh, residents of Bharala village; Faqruddin Ahmad of Lisari Gate; Ambuj Chauhan, resident of Palheda village and Geetanjali Singh, wife of the gang leader.
The IG added, “During questioning of the arrested criminals, it came to light that owing to cash crunch and diminishing terror of the gang, Uddham Singh has devised a strategy of attacking soft targets in the doctor community. The Vinod Kumar episode was the first in the series.”
STF sources further revealed that despite being shifted to Lucknow jail, Uddham Singh still had complete control over the gang and was directing (via phone call or WhatsApp) who to target.
Uddham Singh has 47 criminal cases against him and he surrendered to the police in 2010. He was allegedly successfully running an extortion racket from inside the jail with the local police unable to control his activities. Eventually he was shifted to Lucknow jail in April 2015.
An arrested shooter, Vidit Vihan, confessed that Uddham Singh had promised him Rs 1 lakh for firing at the ultrasound centre. He also said that he was associated with the gang since the last five years and would arrange different shooters to carry out Singh's orders.
Secretary of Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Meerut chapter, Shishir Jain said, “This is indeed a positive development because doctors have over the years become a soft target for these gangsters involved in extortion. However there are still unsolved cases that police has not been able to crack. Our confidence in the police will improve only if those cases are also solved at the earliest.”