Pradeep Kumar Singh (centre) at Delhi police headquarters on Friday. (Ramakant Kushwaha)

New Delhi, May 11: A member of a Maoist squad, he killed an SP in 2000 and has been roaming free ever since. Last night, Pradeep Kumar Singh’s luck ran out when he walked into a Delhi police trap at a Metro station.

Ajay Kumar Singh, then SP of Lohardaga, was returning from a raid during the afternoon of October 4, 2000 in his white Gypsy followed by a police jeep. Maoist Pradeep was lurking around forests near the village of Pesrar.

After being tipped-off about the movement of police vehicles, Pradeep’s party split into three teams. One would lay the mines, the other would create obstacles on the police route and the third, which Pradeep was a part of, would fire at the police.

There was only one road the police would take to return from the area. Since there was not enough time to lay the mines, they were just strewn on the path. When they failed to explode, Pradeep and his comrades opened fire.

Ajay took two bullets in the head and died on the spot. Pradeep fled.

Delhi, police, that described Pradeep as Latehar’s most wanted, was picked up at 2.40pm yesterday in Rohini in North West Delhi.

“Our intelligence network had alerted us of his presence. He walked into our trap near Rithala Metro station. He attempted to flee when challenged, but was apprehended. A pistol was recovered from him and a case has been registered under the Arms Act,” said DCP (crime & railways) Sanjay Kumar Jain.

Once Jharkhand obtains a production warrant for Pradeep (now 42) in a Delhi court, he would be transferred to a jail back home to face trial.

Pradeep worked undetected for five years in Punjab after killing Ajay. He then returned to Jharkhand where his faction, the People’s War Group (PWG), had merged with the CPI(Maoist).

Pradeep had joined the insurgents in 1990 when he was studying at Daltonganj Inter College. He was also part of the Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad. He was active in the movement for creating Jharkhand and the Biri Patta Daam Andolan.

During counter insurgency operations in Latehar’s Saryu forests in February, Pradeep was forced to flee to a relative’s home somewhere in the National Capital Region (NCR) that includes Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Originally from Latehar, Pradeep’s son Rakesh now carries on his legacy as an area commander of the Maoists in the district. Pradeep’s wife and two school going sons continue to live in his ancestral home in Nindi village in Latehar.