Wanted criminal nabbed from forest in Gujarat's Botad - ATS

A criminal accused in several cases of murder, extortion and robbery was Sunday arrested from a forest in Gujarat's Botad district Sunday by an Anti- Terrorism Squad team. On receiving a tip-off that accused Jusab Allarakha, who had jumped parole in June last year and had allegedly carried out a murder, was hiding in the forest in Botad district, the Gujarat ATS constituted a five-member team, which included four women personnel.

The ATS team, comprising sub-inspectors Santokben Odedara, Arunaben Gameti, Nitamika Gohel, Shakuntala Mal, and Jignesh Agravat had to cross hills and jungles and lay in hiding till dawn to nab the accused, said one of the women officers who was part of the operation. Allarakha is wanted in 23 cases in Junagadh, Rajkot, and Ahmedabad among other districts, the official said, adding that he jumped parole in June last year.

In July, he allegedly killed a man identified as Jeevanbhai Sanghani using firearms to take revenge for the murder of his associate, and is also alleged to be involved in the murder of a priest in Junagadh, the ATS said in a press release. Allarakha had also escaped from police custody and had fired at and injured an officer when police tried to nab him at the time, it said. "He was hiding in a jungle area in Botad and it was getting difficult for the local police to nab him. His case was handed over to the ATS. A team of police sub-inspectors Santokben Odedara, Arunaben Gameti, Nitamika Gohel, Shakuntala Mal, and Jignesh Agravat, carried out the operation and arrested him," the ATS said.

Talking about the operation, one of the PSIs told reporters, "We crossed the hillock and remained in hiding till 4:30 am so that we could catch him after detecting his movement. We were carrying arms like AK 47. The accused was known to fire upon the police team in the past." "It was not possible to go to the place of his hiding on a vehicle because it is a dense hilly area with jungle," she said. Allarakha was handed over to the CID (Crime) which is investigating his cases.

(With inputs from agencies.)