India's Most Wanted Female Gangster - Archana Sharma

Most Wanted by Pune Police Kidnapping and Murder

August 17, 2008

PUNE GUJARAT INDIA NEWS -- Archana Balmukund Sharma, a confidante and girlfriend of an international gangster, Om Prakash "Babloo" Srivastava as well as a trusted lieutenant of Fazal-ur-Rehman, is most wanted by the City of Pune Police in India for her alleged involvement in a kidnapping and murder case.

Archana Sharma was introduced to Babloo Srivastava in Lucknow during early 1990 by Dubai-based ganglord Irfan Goga, she moved to Dubai and opened a garment store. In Dubai she met Fazal-ur-Rehman who recruited Sharma when the two met at a performance of an Indi-pop singer and his dance troupe. Through her affiliation with Srivastava, she eventually returned to India and acted in a Bollywood movie, called "Gangster."

Delhi Police first arrested Archana in 1997, in Hauz Khas while investigating an attempted murder case. At the time, Rehman was using Sharma to extort money from businessmen. Apparently, none of Sharma's arrest charges stuck.

In 1998, Archana Sharma along with Irfan Goga gang members, henchmen of Fazal-ur-Rehman, allegedly kidnaped and killed a businessman, Sagar Ladkat after he refused to pay extortion money. Ladkat had gone missing after he left his petol pump (Gas Station) in Mangalwar Peth on the night of May 22, 1998. His mutilated body was found in a building under construction in Kondhawa the next morning. Ladkat's car was also found abandoned in the same area.

Equipped with cellular phones and two vehicles, the members of the Irfan Goga gang followed Sagar Ladkat for 34 days before the night they kidnapped and killed him. The entire plot to abduct and kill Sagar Ladkat was masterminded by Anis Amjad alias Fazal-ur-Rehman.

Irfan Goga, a so-called Pakistani businessman, actually a gangster, disappeared in 1998. Irfan Goga was allegedly murdered by another gangster, Shoaib Khan. Irfan Goga had won a lot of money gambling in Shoaib's gambling den in Dubai. Goga's body was never recovered, but his abandoned car was found in a parking lot of the Dubai International Airport. The Goga family accused Shoaib of the murder, so, Shoaib Khan fled to Pakistan.

It is important to understand that these international gangsters are members of organized crime operating in the Eastern Hemisphere with connections even in upper levels of national government. They trade in drugs, gambling, extortion, and human trafficking. Some factions (Dawood Gang) are now joining terrorist groups. In addition, through protection payments (bribery), these gangs have been harbored by local governments from the State. It is also important to realize that Archana Sharma is not just another mobster's bimbo. Archana Sharma is a Lucknow University graduate who has the ability to create identities for herself and others as well as research and recognize potential targets for extortion.

Typically, an extortion operation is compiled of a number of gang members organized into a team or cell. The operation starts with a spotter (Archana Sharma) identifying and researching the "Mark." Next, the first contact with the mark is made by phone using a cell phone from outside the country. Messages are left outlining personal details of blackmail information, and the calls become progressively and more threatening until the mark answers the extortionist's demands. If the use of threatening calls fails to convince the victim to pay, the kidnapping is executed. Once in the hands of the cell's thugs, the victim must pay a ransom through a "Hawala" transaction, which is a system for remitting money used in Islamic societies. Characteristically, a financial obligation in a "Hawala" transaction between two parties is settled by transferring it to a third party. Hawala transactions are usually based on trust and leave no written record. It is unknown whether the kidnappers will adhere to their end of the bargain after the ransom is paid, my guess from gruesome brutality and fear instilled by these criminals, is that in most cases the victim will be killed.

Further investigations into the Sagar Ladkat murder case had revealed that the perpetrators were from Bihar and had received help from two brothers living locally, Majid Khan Ayub Khan, Ladkat's former employee, and his estate agent brother Mushtaq Khan. The two brothers provided accommodations and a car for the Irfan Goga gang.

Additionally, in a December 1998, police investigating a "Babloo" Srivastava's extortion operation have said Archana Sharma, used meticulous care in arranging the set up of a rented flat in Calcutta, India to plan the kidnaping of Raju Punwani, a wealthy Hotel owner. Sharma managed to contact the Punwani's chartered accountants to track his business cash flow. She planned the getaway, including the purchase of cars and air tickets for the team members to escape the country with the kidnaped victim. Finally, Punwani was luckily, and the kidnaping was pre-empted by the Uttar Pradesh Police in an early morning arrest operation. Sharma living at Jodhpur Park in South Calcutta under the alias, Nalini Chaudhury, managed to escape capture.

No India police agency knows the true number of Babloo gang members, but it is estimated that there are from 100 to 250 members operating in cells throughout the cities of, Allahabad, Calcutta, Dharbhanga, Hardwar, Karnataka, Lucknow, Mumbai, and the Gujarat State, in India. Furthermore, the gang leader, Om Prakash "Babloo" Srivastava runs the gang from prison. In July 2006 Srivastava was sentenced to life in prison murder of Lalit Suneja in 1992, but in July 2007, the underworld don received an acquittal. Now, the Delhi Government is challenging the acquittal.

Meanwhile, CBI and Mumbai Police records show more than 68 hardcore criminals have escaped from India using fake passports including Archana Sharma. The notorious female fugitive wanted in Pune, India, has eluded the law since the December 1998 bust by the Uttar Pradesh Police in Calcutta that saved Raju Punwani. However, Sharma is a spotter for the Babloo gang, which is carried out by only the most educated cell-members, and it involves identifying and researching a victim with high net worth who is vulnerable to blackmail, therefore, a valuable asset to the India underworld, but then again it has been ten years since Sharma's disappearance, so maybe she is dead having served her usefulness.

Archana Balmukund Sharma is described as:

• Birth Date: November 17, 1975
• Height: 1.56 meter - 61 inches
• Weight: 53 kg - 117 pounds
• Eyes: Black
• Hair: Black
• Complexion: light
• Sex: Female
• Race: Indian

Archana Balmukund Sharma has aliases:

• Manisha Agarwal
• Minakshi Ahuja

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Archana Balmukund Sharma, a most wanted hunted offender eluding surrender from India, should contact the Pune City Police Control Room Tel. No. 6122880 - 6126296, and their local law enforcement where this female fugitive is located or spotted.

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