Patna, Aug. 16: The arrest of Kundan Singh, prime accused in the murder of transporter Ravikant Choudhary, is a big morale booster for the state police.

Named in at least 16 criminal cases, including those of murder and attempt to murder, Kundan could never be put behind bars in the past 17 years.

Kundan, wanted in the murder case of bus owner Ravikant at the Mithapur bus stand on July 27, was today brought to Patna by a four-member special police team.

Sources said the state police were under a lot of pressure to trace and arrest Kundan. Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar, however, refuted these claims.

“There was no pressure of any sort. The man has been arrested and is behind bars at the moment. There is no question of any kind of pressure. He will be forwarded to jail today,” he said.

The man, who managed bail every time the police tried to arrest him, will be taken in remand for further questioning, superintendent of police (SP), Patna Central, Shivdeep Lande told The Telegraph.

Kundan, also a transporter and running a fleet of buses under the name of Mantu Travels, warned the police about his “goodwill” with several high-ranking people, police sources said.

A special team of the Patna police, in co-ordination with the Delhi police, arrested Kundan from Mukherjee Nagar area of New Delhi on August 13.

“He will be taken on police remand for further interrogation. Search is one for others named in the murder of Ravikant,” Lande said.

Talking about Kundan’s criminal past, SSP Alok Kumar said he has been booked in cases dating back as early as 1994.

“This is the first time the man has been arrested by the police. He is named in as many as 16 criminal cases. However, each time he has been successful in getting a bail. This time, the police have managed to nab him and it is a big achievement for us,” the SSP said.

The officer added Kundan has confessed to killing Ravikant as the deceased was gaining a better hold on the transport business and had become a threat for Kundan.

“Ravikant was doing well in the business and had taken the agency of the Jai Matadi Travels and the Hawa Hawai Travels which were with Kundan Singh earlier. Kundan was losing control over the business and had to stop Ravikant. Moreover there were disagreements over bus routes too,” the SSP said. Before this, the Patna police had arrested Kripa Shankar Singh, another accused in the same murder case, on August 5.

At present, Kundan’s son Mantu, an accomplice by the name of Saroj and two others are evading arrest.

The police have said Kundan, who used 60 SIM cards, 13 mobiles, kept on changing his hideouts right from the day of murder. He went to Gaya, Calcutta, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh before finally being arrested in Delhi.