Wanted land mafia escapes, aide held in East Champaran raid | Patna News
Motihari: As part of its ongoing crackdown on organised crime, particularly land mafias in East Champaran, Motihari police on Wednesday raided the hideout of an alleged land mafia in Chhatauni and seized cash, weapons, Nepali currency and land documents worth crores of rupees.Police also arrested a person during the operation, while the prime accused managed to escape.The raid targeted the hideout of alleged land mafia Naresh Pandey, who is wanted in multiple criminal cases. During the search, police recovered Rs16 lakh in cash, Nepali currency, a currency-counting machine, a loaded country-made pistol, six live cartridges, liquor bottles, a large quantity of gold and silver jewellery, and more than two dozen land-related documents. Several other documents were also seized for investigation.Naresh’s associate, Ujjwal Kumar, was arrested from the premises, while Pandey fled before he could be apprehended. Police said raids are underway at multiple locations across the district to arrest him.According to police, Naresh has more than 16 criminal cases registered against him at different police stations in East Champaran. The cases include murder, attempt to murder, extortion, kidnapping, forgery, land grabbing, robbery and offences under the Arms Act.Investigators are scrutinising the seized land documents to ascertain whether the properties were acquired through illegal transactions, forged registrations or coercion.The recovery of Rs16 lakh in cash, along with a currency-counting machine, has also prompted police to probe the source of the money and examine possible hawala links or other illegal financial transactions.
