MUMBAI: Barely one month after it made a come back on India TV, Suhaib Ilyasi's India TV’s Most Wanted (earlier India's Most Wanted) has become instrumental in the arrest of two criminals. The police, who confirmed the arrests of criminals Ram Asre Phakkar and Vijay Fufrana, said the arrests were possible owing to the programme highlighting the criminal activities of these two individuals.

Ram Asre Tiwai alias Phakkar Baba, along with his mistress Kusuma Nain and seven more allies surrendered on 8 June, 2004. Ram Asre was a dacoit operating in the Chambal Valleys and was responsible for various cases of murder, robbery and abduction in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. There are 135 cases of robbery registered against him and an award of Rs 1,50,000 was offered in return for the information on him. As quoted in an official communiqué, Sikandra DSP O P Singh said that featuring Ram Asre’s crimes on India TV’s Most Wanted played a vital role in his surrender.

The second criminal to be arrested, Vijay Fufrana was responsible for a triple murder at Fafrana village. Following this incident, an award of RS 20,000 was placed on him. Vijay was involved in various murder and robbery cases, and his gang of dozen members was also involved in the looting of heavy vehicles. Fufrana was arrested recently.

Dehat (Ghaziabad)'s SP Virendra Kumar Shekhar, during an interview on India TV’s Most Wanted stated that Fufrana's arrest would not have been possible without the assistance and support of India TV’s Most Wanted team, says the release.

Commenting on the arrests, Suhaib Ilyasi said, “In the past, our show has enabled the police to capture more than 50 criminals. Once a criminal is featured on the show, it becomes difficult for him or her to hide any more. Either they surrender themselves or fall prey to encounters. It is indeed commendable that despite a gap of a few years, the Most Wanted team in its new avatar of India TV’s Most Wanted is as successful as ever in its mission”.