india

Updated: Nov 07, 2019 13:27 IST

Delhi police claim to have unearthed a failed plot to assassinate former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar with the arrest of a criminal, who was also wanted for the murder of a relative of former India cricketer Virender Sehwag, in a late-night shootout in the capital on Wednesday.

The 42-year-old history-sheeter Darshan Dabas had tried to kill former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students Union leader when he was campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar’s Begusarai district earlier this year, said police. Police also said that Dabas ruled out anyone else’s involvement in the plot and said he wanted to kill Kumar as he considered him to be an “anti-national”.

“Dabas has told us that he stayed in Begusarai for about 25-26 days looking for an opportunity to kill Kanhaiya. He made some failed attempts while Kanhaiya was out for road shows in the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency. We are verifying his claims,” said a police officer on the condition of anonymity.

Kanhaiya contested the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat on a CPI ticket and lost to BJP’s Giriraj Singh.

Dabas is a known criminal with a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head and the police wanted him in two murder cases, including, the 2008 killing of a relative of former India batsman Virender Sehwag.

The police officer cited above said a crime branch team laid a trap for Dabas on the Dwarka-Najafgarh road after learning of his movement in the area. He was nabbed after a brief exchange of fire.

“Around 11 pm, Dabas was spotted driving a Honda City. He was asked to surrender but he accelerated and tried to flee. We blocked his way with our vehicles. He fired two bullets at us. Four bullets were fired from our side in self-defense before we overpowered him. Luckily, nobody was hurt,” said the officer.