Hiranwar Gang Had Plotted Attack During Rally On Ambedkar Jayanti

Time of India

27-04-2025

Nagpur: The city police's crime branch revealed on Sunday that the
Hiranwar gang
had planned to open fire on an
Ambedkar Jayanti
procession on April 14 to eliminate their arch-rival Sheikhu Khan's close aide, Pravesh Gupta.
However, their plan failed. The kingpin,
Bunty Hiranwar
, along with his sharpshooters, waited at Ram Nagar Chowk to attack the rally coming from Pandhrabodhi.
Netted 11 days after the murder of café owner
Avinash Bhusari
on April 15, Bunty Hiranwar made the 'mistake' of inserting a new SIM in an old handset which provided the police with crucial information about their movements on the train from Chanda Fort to Gondia via Navegaon. He was caught with his cousin Babu, alias Ankit Hiranwar. "Meshram was using his cellphone and trying to contact others through messengers and Instagram, which revealed his location at Dongargarh in Chhattisgarh. Cyber cell experts managed to identify his cell number operating from a dharmashala near a famous shrine. He was caught along with Walke," said DCP Maknikar at a press conference at the crime branch on Sunday.
"The entire operation was monitored by CP Ravinder Singal," he added.
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DCP Maknikar, whose team, led by senior inspector Mahesh Sagade, nabbed the five Hiranwar gang members, including Bunty, with the help of Gondia police, stated that the gangsters wanted to target the Ambedkar Jayanti rally to kill Gupta, but the target remained elusive. "If the Hiranwars had spotted Gupta in the rally, they would have shot at him indiscriminately, leading to collateral damage with deep repercussions. After missing Gupta, the Hiranwars decided to target café owner Bhusari (deceased). An employee of Bhusari, identified as Abu, leaked information to the Hiranwars that the victim once revealed to him that Bunty's cousin Pawan (killed in a gang war in January) would soon be eliminated. This made him one of the targets, apart from Gupta and Dheeraj Bamburde," said Maknikar, adding that Bunty claimed before the police, 'agar main nahi marta toh mujhe woh log marr dalte' (If I did not kill Bhusari, then the Sheikhu gang would have bumped me off).
While Bunty and Babu were nabbed from Navegaon after a chase, Walke and Meshram were nabbed from Dongargarh, and Yadav was netted at Gondia by the teams of assistant inspectors Gajanan Chambhare, Nitin Chulpar, sub-inspector Manoj Raut, and others, with the help of cyber expert PSI Vivek Zingare.
Maknikar further stated that sharpshooter Shakti Yadav (Shibbu's brother), along with Monu Kalsarpe, Sahil Shendre, Rahul Bawane, and Sheikh Sahid, are now being pursued.
"The killers abandoned their bikes near Bhandara railway station before boarding the train to reach Dongargarh, then returned to a relative's place of Rohit Murke. The gang later travelled to Kolkata via Durg and went to Vishakhapatnam. Some of their cellphone analysis showed that key members of the gang, Meshram and Walke, were returning to Nagpur via train. They were in Kerala Express, but it got delayed due to Gorakhpur Express. The Kerala Express stopped between Ajni and Khapri, during which Meshram and Walke jumped off and fled. They went to Futala and Indora to consume narcotics before fleeing to Dongargarh again via Bhandara. We caught them from Dongargarh," said Maknikar, adding that Bunty's uncle Dheeraj would be booked for illegal money lending, while there would be a fresh case against Babu, alias Ankit, for preparing fake Aadhaar cards for the gang.
Gang member stole grandma's money to buy weapons
DCP Crime Rahul Maknikar stated that Shibbu Yadav, the younger brother of sharpshooter Shakti, stole Rs 1.27 lakh from his grandmother, Kiran Hiranwar, who passed away two days ago. He handed over the cash to Bunty Hiranwar, who in turn gave it to Shaikh Shahid. "Shahid bought three mausers for their mission against the Sheikhu gang from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh at Rs 45,000 around each three months ago," said Maknikar, adding that accused Rahul Bawane brought 20 bullets for the gang. "They test-fired a few bullets too," said Maknikar.
Was Simran's husband's death an accident?
Simran Lokhande, arrested for helping her friend Bunty Hiranwar by transferring Rs 10,000, is now under scrutiny for the mysterious death of her husband. She got married when Bunty was in jail for four years. Her husband died after falling from the fourth floor of a building in Wadi. "Was it an accident or homicide is what we may look into in the near future," said DCP crime Maknikar, adding that he would invoke MCOCA against the gang. Simran's brother, Rishabh Wankhede, was also arrested for helping Bunty's uncle and Babu's father, Dheeraj, and his family flee Nagpur after Avinash Bhusari's murder.