Cop Murder At Wedding, 28-Year Chase: How 'Dr Jhatka' Was Arrested

He reinvented his whole life, living as a small-town "doctor" in Madhya Pradesh with his wife and children. Then, police arrested him for murder, attempted murder, and multiple other charges.

Rajinder Bairagi alias Rajinder Singh Yadav alias "Dr Jhatka" (53), managed to evade the law for 28 years, until the Delhi Police Crime Branch located him.

"Dr. Jhatka", a proclaimed offender in multiple cases spreading across Delhi and Haryana, had been on the run since 1999 when he escaped police custody while he was being transported handcuffed.

He was wanted in connection with serious offences, including the murder of a Haryana police officer, multiple cases of attempted murders in Delhi, and escaping police custody, said an officer.

Bairagi was arrested during a major operation of the Delhi Police from Mungaoli in the Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh. It came as part of the Delhi Police's ongoing efforts to arrest criminals involved in heinous crimes.

According to officials, a probe was launched to track down the accused in two attempted murder cases back in 1997 based on two complaints filed at the Janakpuri Police Station - one of them being a life-threatening stabbing attack in Uttam Nagar.

During the investigation, police found he was also the prime suspect in the murder of a Haryana police official. It was also found that he escaped Uttar Pradesh Police custody in handcuffs in 1999, following which he altered his identity and lived a second life. A separate case was registered against him for escaping.

How Rajinder Bairagi Became "Dr Jhatka"

During interrogation, Rajinder Bairagi revealed that he was previously a kabaddi player, during which time he came in contact with criminals and entered the underworld.

He confessed to killing the Haryana police officer, saying that on May 10, 1998, he was attending a wedding ceremony in Sonipat, where he got involved in a dispute with the bride's family. He left the venue, returned with five armed associates, and opened fire on the guests. During the firing, Haryana police officer Jai Bhagwan, who was the bride's uncle, died and another person was critically injured.

Police had arrested him shortly after, but he escaped them while being transported from Ghaziabad Jail to the Sonipat court for a hearing.

According to Delhi police officials, Rajinder first went to Colaba in Maharashtra where he first worked as a physical education teacher at a Kendriya Vidyalaya. After about a year, he moved to Mungaoli, changed his name to Rajendra Singh Yadav and remained beyond the law by obtaining documents. These included an Aadhaar card, PAN card, voter identity card, driving licence and domicile certificate, following which he blended into the local community.

He got married in 2003 to Mamta Yadav, who worked as a government Auxiliary Nurse Midwife. Later, he started working as an unregistered medical practitioner and treating patients, earning the name "Dr. Jhatka". The couple has two children, a 17-year-old son studying in Class 12 and a 16-year-old daughter studying in Class 11.

According to Delhi Police records, eight criminal cases - including theft, murder, and attempted murder to violations of the Arms Act and escaping from police custody - are registered against the accused across Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. These include the murder of Haryana police personnel Jai Bhagwan, two cases of attempted murder in Delhi's Janakpuri, an Arms Act case in Gannaur, an escape from lawful custody, a theft case in Delhi's Hauz Khas, and an Arms Act violation case in Uttar Pradesh. Courts had already declared him a proclaimed offender in several of these cases.