New Delhi, May 15 : A notorious criminal, wanted in 31 cases in five states, was apprehended, along with his two gang members, in the national capital, a Delhi Police official said on Wednesday.

The accused, who is also the kingpin of the gang, was identified as Rafiq Sheikh while his associates were identified as Shabed Ali Khan and Sheikh Maydul.

Police officials said that Sheikh aka Roka was wanted in 31 criminal cases registered in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.

He had also fired on the Station House Officer, Kotla Mubarakpur police station and his team near ISBT Kashmiri Gate in 2021.

Khan and Sheikh Maydul were wanted in 14 criminal cases.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, Amit Kaushik said that a team had been working for the last four months to trace and arrest the absconding criminal and his gang members but he kept on frequently changing his hideouts and locations in Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar etc. to evade arrest.

"On May 8, a specific input was received that Rafiq Sheikh, along with his two gang members, were present in Hotel Blue Diamond in Delhi following which a raid was conducted and the trio was nabbed," he said.

The DCP further said that the Roka gang was involved in more than 80 criminal cases including attempts to murder, robbery, housebreaking, burglary, theft, trespass, assault on police, hurt, intimidation, under the Arms Act etc. in Delhi during the last seven years.

On the gang's modus operandi, he said that they used to carry out recces of locked houses in posh areas all over India.

"Thereafter, members of the gang used to target the identified house with their housebreaking tools. They used to enter the houses after breaking the locks and stole cash and jewellery from there. One or two members used to keep watch on nearby houses. They used to target the big houses in posh areas so that they could get a good amount of cash and jewellery from there," he said.

The DCP said that after committing burglary-cum-theft in 4/5 houses at a stretch, Sheikh used to leave Delhi and go to Kolkata. "Sheikh mostly used to travel by air and remaining members by train or bus," he added.

/IANS