Patna, Dec. 6: His name once used to send shivers down the spine of people across north Bihar till recent times.

Today, he is a reformed man who has bid farewell to arms and joined the mainstream.

Suresh Sahni, a ganglord of Muzaffarpur evading arrest in around a dozen cases of house robbery and dacoities, particularly in areas along the India-Nepal border, surrendered before senior police officers of Muzaffarpur today.

Sahni, a resident of Harsher village under Minapur police station, is among 14 criminals who surrendered before the inspector-general of police (Tirhut zone) Gupteshwar Pandey at a function held at Minapur police station.

Sahni, who operated in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Samastipur and East Champaran, decided to surrender and lead a normal life after much persuasion.

In his 40s, Sahni said he had formed a gang in 2001 after being implicated “in false cases” by the police.

“While I was working in Punjab, my name figured in a house robbery case in 1997. I tried to convince the police officer that I had not committed any crime but he did not pay heed. My name was dragged into all the incidents of loot and dacoities in the area,” he said.

The other criminals, who surrendered, along with Sahni, were identified as Milan Sahni, Shyam Sahni, Anup Sahni, Shashi Sahni, Surendra Sahni, Premdhar Sahni, Ram Pravesh Sahni, Jitendra Sahni, Umesh Sahni, Rakesh Sahni, Hanslal Sahni, Sukrit, Dhapad and Lal Mian.