Patna: A 36-year-old wanted criminal was shot in the leg and arrested on Thursday morning after a brief gunfight with police in Patna’s Janipur police station area, as part of Bihar’s continued crackdown on organised crime.
This marks the fifth encounter of its kind in just 34 days. The accused, Rakesh Kumar from Sahabajpur under the Pipra police station limits, had arrived on a motorcycle with an accomplice to intimidate a bank employee over an extortion demand when police intervened.
Kartikeya K Sharma, after getting information, said, “When police signalled the two men to stop, they allegedly opened fire on the police team. Officers clearly announced their presence and even fired a warning shot in the air. Despite this, the criminals continued firing at the police team. In self-defence, police retaliated, hitting Rakesh in the leg. He collapsed at the spot and was immediately taken into custody, while his associate fled.”
Police, according to TOI, said the accused is in stable condition and is being treated under tight security. Meanwhile, teams are carrying out continuous raids to track down his accomplice. Officers recovered a country-made pistol, a live cartridge and the mobile phone with the SIM card allegedly used to make the extortion call. Rakesh, they added, is a known history-sheeter linked to multiple criminal cases.
Notably, the incident is linked to a case registered on November 30, 2025 when Canara Bank employee Anirudh Kumar Singh told police he received a phone call demanding Rs 10 lakh in extortion. When he refused to pay, the callers allegedly fired shots outside his house that same night to scare his family. Based on his written complaint, Janipur police station registered a case. Given the seriousness of the incident, the SSP set up a special team led by the City SP (West), with support from the Special Task Force (STF).
Using technical surveillance, the team first tracked down and arrested 41-year-old Ranjan Kumar Roshan, a resident of Sabalpur under Nadi police station who had been staying in Fatehganj, Patna. He was taken into custody late on Wednesday night.
The SSP said, “During interrogation, Roshan revealed that his main partner, Rakesh, was the person who fired outside the victim’s house on November 30. Based on this information, police arrested the accused. Further investigation is underway.”