VARANASI: Dreaded gangster Munna Bajrangi introduced use of AK-47s in UP's gang war. He first used it in killing a block pramukh, Kailash Dubey, and his four accomplices at the behest of his mentor Mukhtar Ansari in 1996. He used it again when he killed BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and six others on November 29, 2005.Born in 1967, Bajrangi dropped out after Class V, and worked as a weaver. His name first featured in a murder at the age of 17, when he shot dead his employer Bhulan Seth in 1984. Next year, he was named in the murder of a businessman in Varanasi. He then joined the gang of east UP mafia don Gajraj Singh.He got the nickname ‘Munna' as he was youngest in his family and Bajrangi for being a devotee of Lord Hanuman and often being seen sporting a saffron tilak on his forehead.Bajrangi came in contact with Mukhtar Ansari through a friend, Mohammed Kalam, and soon became his right-hand man. Ansari used Bajrangi in countering his main rival Brijesh Singh and eliminating his men while he focused on carving out a political career for himself.However, his dream of becoming a public representative like his arch-rival Brijesh Singh and mentor Mukhtar and regain some ‘respectability' remained unfulfilled.He entered the limelight in 1993 after he murdered a block chief in Jaunpur and fled with carbine of his gunner.In 1996, Bajrangi created sensation by killing Gajraj's political rivals — Mariyahu Kailash Dubey and BJP leader Rajkumar Singh.Luck favoured Bajrangi; he survived even after being hit 10 times in an encounter with STF in Delhi in 1998. Senior STF officials were convinced of his death but he miraculously woke up and fled from the mortuary.By 2004, Bajrangi associated himself with Mukhtar gang. In 2005, he sprayed BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and his six companions with bullets in Ghazipur district.His downfall started after 2003 when his lieutenants and sharp-shooters were eliminated one by one. While extortion had been Bajrangi's prime business, after being jailed he entered real estate, liquor, mining and government tenders through his close associates.

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