PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
Across Uttarakhand, there are 101 bounty-carrying criminals, out of whom 10 are carrying rewards of up to Rs one lakh on their heads. All of them are still absconding. As per Special Task Force (STF) sources, investigations are being carried out in some cases while in others SITs have been formed. Notably, STF has arrested 18 rewarded criminals in 2025.
It may be noted here that several hardened criminals are involved in these cases and are still elusive with police continuing with their efforts to arrest them. Rewards ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs one lakh have been announced on these criminals in cases registered across different districts.
According to police records, 28 criminals are carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 each, while 24 have rewards of Rs 25,000. Fifteen criminals have rewards of Rs 10,000 while 19 criminals carry rewards ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.
The list of criminals carrying a reward of Rs one lakh includes the name of the builder Deepak Mittal who has been absconding for several years. His wife’s name is also included in the list. Other names in the Rs 1 lakh reward category include Rahul from Bihar; Kalime from Bheem Nagar, Uttar Pradesh; Shareef from Bheem Nagar, Uttar Pradesh; Subhash alias Rahul from Sultanpuri, Delhi; Atul Bisht from Tallital, Nainital, Kishor Ram from Ramnagar, Nainital, Rajnesh from Bijnor and Yug Awasthi from Haridwar.
According to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) STF, Navneet Singh Bhullar, 18 reward-carrying criminals had been arrested in 2025. A similar number of wanted criminals had also been arrested in the previous year, he added. “Most of the arrested criminals were involved in serious offences such as murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, illegal arms trade, forest crimes and drug trafficking,” he stated. Many of them had fled to other states to evade arrest but the STF teams had tracked them with the help of technical surveillance and local intelligence. They were later arrested from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, STF is continuing its search for the absconding builder Shashwat Garg, who is accused of cheating investors of crores of rupees. Several complaints have been registered against him, following which cases were lodged. Police teams are still conducting raids at possible hideouts. His passport has been cancelled and a lookout notice has been issued, too. Agencies are also investigating whether he has escaped abroad.
The senior STF officials said that operations to arrest the fugitive criminals would continue without interruption.
