Overview
- Ashu alias Monty, wanted in a ₹5 crore extortion case, was shot during an exchange of fire late Wednesday near an under-construction marriage hall on Moradabad’s Thakurdwara bypass in the Civil Lines area.
- Police say the suspect opened fire when a joint Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and Moradabad team closed in on him after a tip-off, and he died during treatment at a hospital.
- Officers recovered a car, a .32 pistol, a .32 revolver, a 12-bore gun, and a large cache of live and spent cartridges, and they said an associate fled in the dark.
- Investigators link him to March threats against exporter Arshu Dhal that demanded ₹5 crore over WhatsApp and were followed by shots fired at the factory gate.
- Officials describe him as a shooter for the Udham Singh gang with about 36 cases since 2010 and a ₹50,000 reward on his arrest, and they are now conducting raids to track the escaped aide and possible gang regrouping after the leader’s March 26 bail.