Shri Prakash Shukla

Life

Shri Prakash Shukla was born in Mamkhor village, near hata bazar Gorakhpur. He is reported to have been a notable wrestler in his village. In 1993, Shukla killed a man called Rakesh Tiwari, because he had whistled at Shukla's sister. This was Shukla's first criminal record. Following the murder, Shukla escaped to Bangkok. He returned and became associated with Suraj Bhan of Mokama, Bihar. He was once the most dreaded and ruthless gangster of Uttar Pradesh and North Bihar which creates panic among others in the business but no one dares to confront him in the area under his influence.He has become the biggest headache for the politicians too which compels the police department to take urgent action against him.

In early 1997, he killed Virendra Shahi, a politician and a member of the state's underworld, in Lucknow. It was presumed that Hari Shankar Tiwari, who was an opponent of Sahi, would be targeted next as Shukla wanted the Chillupar assembly seat. In April 1998, the Uttar Pradesh police formed a Special Task Force (STF) to capture or kill 43 top criminals of the state, Shukla was on the list.

On 26 May 1998, Shukla gang's kidnapped Kunal Rastogi, the son of a businessman, from Botanical Gardens, Lucknow. His father was shot dead as he tried to save him. The gang allegedly took to free the boy. In June 1998, he also allegedly killed Brij Behari Prasad, a minister from Bihar, in a Patna hospital where he was undergoing treatment. Soon after, he allegedly killed Ajit Sarkar, an MLA from Motihari. Sakshi Maharaj, a Member of the Parliament from Farrukhabad, had claimed that Shukla had taken a contract of ₹6 million to kill then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. But, he did not reveal the source of this information.

Death

On 8 and 15 September 1998, episodes about Shri Prakash Shukla were broadcast on the crime show India's Most Wanted. The host of the show, Suhaib Ilyasi, claimed that he got threat calls from Shukla after that. He has also said that he got an anonymous phone call on 10 September 1998 saying Shukla and his associates had been seen in a blue Daewoo Cielo near AIIMS Delhi. On 21 September, another anonymous caller said that Shukla and his associates had been seen in Ghaziabad in a blue Daewoo Cielo. The tips were forwarded to the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police.

On 22 September 1998, Shukla was shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force (STF), outside an apartment complex in Ghaziabad. Shukla was hiding in the Vasant Kunj area of Delhi. He had come to Ghaziabad to visit his girlfriend. He was on his way to the Palam airport presumably to escape to Rachi, where his arms-dealer Suraj Bhan lived. By this time, the task force, which was formed in April, had spent in the investigation and had flown 1,00,000 km between Patna, Lucknow and Delhi trying to track him down. He was tracked down primarily by his mobile phone. He used to change SIM cards but he had used one number more than other for a week. The mobile phone and diary recovered after the shootout provided evidence of his connections to politicians.

Aftermath

After his death, the STF found that Shukla was connected to various politicians, including members of Kalyan Singh government, and members of the Indian Police Service and Indian Administrative Service. They had helped him evade the police dragnet and some politicians had provided him shelter. Some had taken money from Shukla in exchange for these favours. On 5 November, Pritam Singh, a member of the STF, was shot dead by members of Shukla's gang.

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