20 days, 10 special teams: Whitefield shootout accused arrested in Bihar

In a major breakthrough, the Whitefield police have arrested one of the accused in the shootout case, following a 20-day manhunt involving 10 special teams that tracked him across several States.

The accused has been identified as Amit Kumar Dubey, 25, a native of Bihar. He was arrested in Bihar on Thursday. The police are continuing their efforts to trace the second accused, Pawan Kumar Dubey, who remains absconding.

According to the police, special teams were formed to trace the accused and searches were conducted in several States, including Telangana, Delhi, West Bengal and Bihar. The operation proved challenging as the accused allegedly received assistance from his family members, who provided him shelter and repeatedly shifted him from one place to another to evade arrest.

The police eventually tracked him down using conventional investigative methods and arrested him in Bihar.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused, who worked as a food delivery agent, and his associate, Pawan, had rented a premises in Pattandur Agrahara. A dispute reportedly arose over the payment of rent, as the duo had allegedly failed to pay rent for three months. Following this, Manjunath, 43, the owner of the premises, reportedly seized their two-wheeler over the unpaid rent.

Enraged by this, the accused allegedly decided to eliminate Manjunath, an advocate. They were suspected to have procured a country-made firearm and opened fire at him. The weapon used in the crime is yet to be recovered.

The police said efforts are continuing to arrest the absconding accused and recover the country-made firearm. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Arms Act, 1959.