Contracted for the murder of coal businessmen in Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand; Mastermind in Malaysia
Raipur
In a major breakthrough, Raipur police have arrested four shooters linked to Jharkhand’s Aman Singh gang. The individuals were reportedly contracted to assassinate prominent coal businessmen in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. While three of the shooters had arrived in Raipur, one was apprehended in Rajasthan by the Chhattisgarh police.
Raipur Range IG Amresh Mishra confirmed that the arrested shooters are Pappu Singh, Devendra Singh, Rohit Swarnakar, and Mukesh Kumar. Pappu Singh, the leader of the group, hails from Pali, Rajasthan, and along with his associates, has previously worked for the notorious Bishnoi gang.
The Aman Singh gang had been hired to eliminate the coal businessmen due to unpaid extortion demands. The shooters were instructed to empty the entire magazine of their pistols on their targets.
Pappu Singh disclosed that Devendra Singh and Mukesh Kumar Bhatt were sent to Raipur disguised as bike riders to survey the targets. This strategy was intended to avoid suspicion and ensure a quick escape through narrow lanes. The two were sent to Raipur by bus.
Rohit Swarnakar, another shooter from Bokaro, Jharkhand, received his pistol near Sendhwa, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, along with a loaded magazine. He visited the Mahakal temple in Ujjain before traveling to Raipur by train.
Based on intelligence inputs, the police launched a covert 72-hour operation. During this operation, plainclothes officers arrested Devendra Singh and Mukesh Kumar Bhatt at Bhata Gaon Chowk. Rohit Swarnakar was arrested near the railway station in the Ganj Thana area, and Pappu Singh was later apprehended in Pali.
The shooters were reportedly planning to target the businessmen within 24 hours. However, the police have not yet disclosed the names of the intended victims.
IG Amresh Mishra explained that the gang members communicated via internet calls and auto-delete messaging platforms, using code words. “Ram-Ram” signified police capture, while “Jai Mata Di” meant everything was fine. They also referred to each other using names like “Army” and “BSF.”
The mastermind behind this operation is reported to be Mayank Singh from the Aman Sahu gang. He contracted Pappu Singh for this task. To avoid previous pitfalls where members were caught, Mayank outsourced the contract to a larger external gang. Currently, police have information that Mayank Singh is operating from Malaysia.
The arrested shooters have multiple criminal cases registered against them in Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Pappu Singh had previously fired shots at a petrol pump in Ajmer under the instruction of a Faridabad-based gangster. Rohit Swarnakar has about half a dozen cases registered against him in Bokaro, Jharkhand. The other accused also have cases under the Arms Act and Excise Act.
Aman Sahu is notorious for extorting money from coal businessmen, builders, transporters, and other businessmen. He has admitted to having ties with Lawrence Bishnoi and frequently interacts on social media with connections to Lawrence’s younger brother, Anmol Bishnoi. The NIA is investigating whether the Aman Sahu gang is supplying both weapons and shooters to the Bishnoi gang.
According to a CID report submitted to ATS six months ago, Aman Sahu’s gang consists of 145 members, 99 of whom are outside jail. The gang possesses over 250 weapons, including five AK-47s. Following Aman Sahu’s imprisonment, the gang has been run by Mayank Singh under his guidance. Aman Sahu has over 124 cases registered against him in various police stations. Mayank Singh is originally from Deoria, Uttar Pradesh.
Gangster Aman Sahu, also known as Aman Sav, was born in 1995 in Matwe, Burdmu village, Ranchi district. He passed his matriculation exam in 2010 with 78% marks and later completed a diploma in Information Technology and Computer Science from Mohali, Punjab, with 62% marks. In 2012, he came into contact with Kuleshwar Singh, then the supreme leader of the Jharkhand Janmukti Morcha, marking the beginning of his criminal career. His first encounter with the law occurred in 2015 during a criminal incident, leading to his imprisonment where he befriended Sujit Sinha and Mayank Singh, further connecting him with militant and other criminal organizations.
Despite Lawrence Bishnoi and Aman Sahu both being incarcerated, the NIA is investigating how they managed to establish contact. The agency is working to identify the intermediary who facilitated communication between these two criminals.
