Mumbai: Dreaded gangster shot dead in Andheri hotel

Gurgaon gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who had 36 criminal offences against him, was killed after a shootout with the Gurgaon Police in an Andheri hotel yesterday. However, the incident has come under the scrutiny of Mumbai Police, which was not notified of the Gurgaon cops' plans in advance.

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The Mumbai Police are yet to verify whether the Gurgaon cops had called them before the encounter. Pic/Satej Shinde

According to officials from the MIDC police station, the firing took place at 11 am in the Airport Metro hotel in Andheri East. Sources in the hotel said Gadoli, who is Gurgaon's most wanted, had on Saturday morning checked into two rooms - 106 and 107 - at the hotel with two of his friends and three women (two of whom were foreigners).

Gurgaon constable Paramjeet Singh was one of the two cops injured in the encounter

A team from the Gurgaon Crime Branch entered the hotel and showed the staff pictures of the notorious mobster. When the hotel staff admitted that Gadoli was staying there, the cops informed them that they were going to arrest him as he was a wanted criminal. At the time, the hotel staff told the Gurgaon team they could not enter Gadoli's room without the local police, but the cops allegedly began to threaten the staffers, saying they had an order from the ‘Commissioner' to not involve anyone else in the plan. They took a duplicate key to Gadoli's room (106) from the hotel.

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Sandeep Gadoli had 36 serious offences registered against him and had a bounty of Rs 1.25 lakh on his head

The Gurgaon police alleged that when they entered the room, Gadoli opened fire on them and they shot in self-defence. Hotel staffers heard a few shots, and two Gurgaon constables were injured in the clash.
However, many questions have been raised about the method used by the police to corner the criminal, and Mumbai Police does not seem to believe the story put forward by the Gurgaon Crime Branch.

For instance, the Gurgaon team should have intimated the local police about its plans before barging into the hotel to arrest Gadoli. In addition, they should also have made an entry into the local police station diary about it. The Mumbai police is now probing these details to see whether protocol was breached.

Mumbai cops speak
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Vinayak Deshmukh said, "A team from the Gurgaon Crime Branch reached the hotel to arrest the accused. There was cross-fire between them and the accused got injured. The accused was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Gurgaon Police claimed that they rang Mumbai Police's control room before the encounter, which we are verifying. The injured constables have been identified as Paramjeet Singh and Vikram Singh; we will record their statements after they are released from hospital." Mumbai CP Datta Padsalgikar has initiated an inquiry into the matter, said an official, adding that they also recovered Rs 40,000 from Gadoli's room.