New Delhi (PTI): Four wanted criminals allegedly involved in multiple cases of murder in Bihar were killed in a shootout with a joint team of Delhi Police and Bihar Police in Rohini in the early hours of Thursday, police said.
The accused, identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto alias Bimlesh Sahni (25), Manish Pathak (33) and Aman Thakur (21), all residents of Bihar's Sitamarhi district, were part of the 'Sigma Gang', they said.
The encounter, which took place around 2.20 am on Bahadur Shah Marg in Rohini, was one of the biggest carried out in Delhi in recent years, police said.
The accused, who were wanted for heinous crimes, including multiple murders and extortion, were reportedly planning to carry out criminal activities in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled next month.
A police source said they had committed a murder in Bihar after the model code of conduct came into place for the elections on October 6.
Ranjan Pathak, the kingpin of the gang carrying a bounty of Rs 25,000 for information leading to his arrest, was reportedly wanted in eight criminal cases.
The encounter took place when the joint team launched an operation to trace the accused, who were reportedly hiding in Delhi for the past several days, a senior police officer said.
During the operation, the accused allegedly opened fire at the police team, prompting retaliatory action that left all four injured, the officer said.
They were rushed to a hospital in Rohini, where doctors declared them dead, he added.
Delhi Police tracked the accused's movements after receiving inputs from Bihar Police, officials said.
Acting on specific intelligence that the gang was planning a major criminal operation ahead of Bihar polls, a joint team of Delhi Police Crime Branch and Bihar Police mounted surveillance and laid a trap in the area, the officer said.
The 243-member Bihar Assembly will got to polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting will take place on November 14.
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Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
