Dreaded Gujarat gangster on the run located in UK, police seek his arrest   

New Delhi: Dreaded Gujarat gangster Jaysukh Ranpariya who is on the run has been traced to United Kingdom. The Indian government has asked the United Kingdom to track Jaysukh Ranpariya down and arrest him. He is wanted in India for the alleged murder of Jamnagar lawyer Kirit Joshi in April 2018. It has been alleged that Ranpariya had used contract killers to eliminate Joshi. He has been traced to UK on the basis of phone calls he is making for extorting money.

Ranpariya has 42 criminal cases pending against him. Among them are murder, extortion, cheating, forgery and money laundering cases. Interpol has already issued a ‘Red Corner Notice’ against Ranpariya. It means that he can be taken into custody in any country where he is located.

It should be stated here that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2018 had attached assets worth Rs 3.97 crore belonging to Ranpariya.

Modus operandi

The gangster had been operating in Jamnagar for some years before he fled. His main income was through extortion from real estate developers and property owners. He would step in whenever they would try to send their land or constructed buildings. The criminal would forge documents of the property and then stake a claim to it. So it became virtually impossible for the owner to sell the land or building. Only after getting the extortion amount Ranpariya would withdraw. Police said he had earned crores of rupees through extortion.

Murder charges

Ranpariya hit the headlines after the murder of Joshi. The latter had been filing criminal cases against Ranpariya for extortion on behalf of his clients. The lawyer was stabbed to death on a busy road.

Ranpariya, who was till then just known as a land mafia had left India using a false passport. Initially it is believed that he had settled in Dubai. However, now a different scenario has emerged.

New complaints

It has been alleged that Ranpariya is calling up people from the UK demanding extortion money. Police have traced the numbers from which the calls came to different destinations in the UK. Hence Gujarat Police through proper channels have requested the UK government to arrest him and send him back to India.

Sources said that Scotland Yard sleuths are working in the case to locate Ranpariya. However, police were not ready to divulge details about the progress in the matter.