PRAYAGRAJ, Dec. 29 -- The Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday arrested a criminal carrying a reward of Rs.50,000, who had been absconding for over three years. The accused, identified as Sachin Shukla, was apprehended by the Prayagraj Field Unit of the STF from the Civil Lines area. Sachin Shukla is an active member of an organised gang involved in incidents of robbery, snatching and theft. He had been wanted by the Nawabganj police in connection with a robbery case, following which a cash reward was announced for his arrest, officials said. According to the STF, a team led by inspector Jai Prakash Rai was conducting a special drive to trace wanted reward-carrying criminals when it received information about the presence of Himanshu alias Sachin Shukla in the Civil Lines area. Acting on the tip-off, the team laid a cordon and arrested him from Mishra Bhawan crossing. Police said Shukla, a resident of Purwa under Baghrai police station in Pratapgarh district, was involved in theft, robbery, snatching and assault along with other gang members. The gang is allegedly led by his brother-in-law, Dheeraj Mishra, a resident of Rampur Hathigahan. On June 11, 2022, the gang allegedly robbed Zaid Khan, a resident of Atrampur alias Nawabganj. While locals managed to apprehend Dheeraj Mishra on the spot, Sachin and other accomplices fled. Following the incident, Sachin reportedly escaped to Delhi, where he worked as a waiter at a hotel. He returned home a few days ago and later came to Prayagraj to meet a friend in the Jhalwa area, where he was eventually arrested. A 42-year-old man, husband of a village head, died after his motorcycle was hit by a pickup vehicle on the Chilbila-Patti road in Pratapgarh late Saturday night. The accident occurred near Tala Mode while he was returning from a function, police said. The deceased has been identified as Randhir Singh aka Dinesh Singh, husband of Bhojpur Biharganj village head Neetu Singh under Nagar Kotwali police station area. He had gone towards Patti on his motorcycle to attend a function earlier in the evening. At around 9.30 pm, while he was returning, a pickup vehicle coming from the opposite direction hit his motorcycle near Dilippur. He sustained serious injuries in the collision. After the incident, the pickup driver fled the spot. Local residents rushed Randhir Singh to the medical college hospital by ambulance, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. On receiving information, family members reached the medical college. Randhir Singh was the middle of three brothers. He is survived by two sons and a daughter. htc...