Devendra Jagtap: Hitman who shot to infamy

Twenty-nine-year-old Devendra Jagtap aka JD may have shot into notoriety in February 2010 with his daring attack on lawyer Shahid Azmi in broad daylight in Azmi’s office at Kurla but the young gangster had already made a mark in the underworld with some brazen crimes before that.

The sharpshooter, who opened fire on underworld gangster Abu Salem on Thursday night, is a notorious gangster. Son of lawyer Babu Jagtap, he was a resident of Chembur and a native of Satara. Having studied till class XII, JD first joined the Chhota Rajan gang and then moved to the Bharat Nepali gang.

He is married and a father of twin girls. JD is also accused in a case in which he had allegedly asked his relatives to help him escape from judicial custody.

According to the prosecution, when the police escorted him to the sessions court on April 8, 2011, JD’s aides Karan alias Munna and Shetty entered the court with fully loaded weapons in what was planned to be a daring escape bid in the busy South Mumbai area.

However, Crime Branch officials nabbed the duo before the two could act on the plan. The accused in the case, including JD, were arrested. The charges pressed against them included handling of weapons and trying to interfere in court proceedings.

The case is at present being tried in the Sessions court.