200 students of UP's Prayagraj schools form three gangs, involved in turf war: Cops

Police reported on Thursday that some 200 kids from five reputable schools in the area had formed three gangs that were engaged in a turf war in the city and were responsible for six homemade bomb explosions during the previous few months. These youngsters are wanted by the police, a top official stated. Police officials claim that the male pupils at these prestigious schools have created the gangs “Tandav,” “Maya,” and “Immortals,” and are fighting for territory. According to the officials, 200 pupils from five well-known schools in Prayagraj are members of the aforementioned gangs. The authorities claimed that 11 of these students, including 10 children, were apprehended by police on Tuesday and that they were involved in episodes involving the hurling of homemade bombs and physical attacks.

police have recovered several motorcycles, a dozen cellphones and some crude bombs from the arrested students.

“These students would fight over territory by punching and throwing homemade bombs at one another. The suspects used to ride two-wheelers and made care to always have their faces covered “Sailesh Pandey, the senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Prayagraj, stated. According to Pandey, on July 15, 16, and 22 events involving crude bomb blasts occurred in various locations throughout the city. The SSP added that authorities are identifying further pupils who may have joined the aforementioned groups. “They have built social media pages for their gangs where they publish photographs of these crude bomb blasts to assert domination over the other group,” the SSP stated.

After a month-long investigation with help from technical units and cell phone surveillance, police were able to pinpoint the school pupils after first suspecting criminal gangs were responsible for the crude bomb blasts, according to the officials. The SSP stated, “We have also chosen to reach out to parents via the school administration pushing them to keep an eye on their children’s actions in order to stop them from entering a world of crime.”

A social worker in Prayagraj named Baba Abhay Awasthi claims that in 1971, a Naxalite who had fled the area taught residents how to construct primitive bombs, which led to the proliferation of these devices in the city. According to Awasthi, the usage of crude bombs, particularly by young people, has been common in the city for about three decades. She added that this practise spread because the components needed to make a basic bomb are readily available.