Shri Prakash Shukla

Sri Prakash Shukla (6 October 1973 – 22 September 1998) He was just 24 at the time of his death.

Life

Shukla was born in Mamkhor village, Gorakhpur, India on Dussehra in a Hindu Brahmin family. His father, Ram Samujh Shukla was a retired Indian Air Force officer, later a government contractor. Shukla was the youngest amongst 5 siblings. He is reported to have been a notable wrestler in his village, following the footsteps of his father & grandfather who were both known to have been of prominent physical stature.

In 1993, 19 year old Shukla shot a man dead due to a local gang rivalry, which marked his first reported criminal offense. Following the murder, Shukla escaped to Bangkok with the help of his close aide gangster Hari Shankar Tiwari, who is widely recognised as Northern India’s first prominent mafia-politician or “Bahubali” and is credited with introducing the systematic blend of organised crime and politics in Uttar Pradesh.

Shukla returned and became associated with former MP Surajbhan Singh of Mokama, Bihar.

On 26 May 1998, Shukla's gang kidnapped Kunal Rastogi, son of a businessman, from Botanical Gardens in Lucknow. His father was shot dead as he tried to save him. The gang allegedly took 5 Crore from a relative in Kanpur to free the son.

In 1998, Shukla was tasked with eliminating Brij Behari Prasad, a rival minister in Lalu Yadav’s government. Shukla admitted himself as a patient to Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), blending in with hospital staff and patients. On July 10, 1998, he murdered Prasad. During his stay, Shukla noticed a female assistant, a local MP Pappu Yadav’s sister. He gathered personal information and began threatening her politically connected family despite warnings from his associate. Shukla arrogantly continued and called Pappu Yadav’s residence to intimidate him.

Soon after, ADG Ajay Raj Sharma was summoned urgently by the then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, who revealed that a contract worth crores had been taken to kill him. Sakshi Maharaj, a Member of the Parliament from Farrukhabad claimed that Shukla had taken a contract worth ₹8 Crore (~$887k) to assassinate CM Singh.

Shri Prakash Shukla was considered as one of the country’s most wanted criminals by the late 1990s, being declared a threat to national security after reports of the contract to assassinate the then Chief Minister emerged. Shukla’s ability to bypass security and strike at high-profile targets demanded immediate action, to which ADG Sharma proposed forming a special unit which CM Singh approved instantly. This gave birth to the STF in 1998. The STF was primarily formed by the Uttar Pradesh police to capture or kill Shukla, along with 43 other top criminals of the state. ADG Sharma handpicked the best officers, including CO Rajesh Pandey and SSP Arun Kumar tasked with tracking and eliminating Shukla.

Death On 8 and 15 September 1998, episodes about Shri Prakash Shukla were broadcast on the crime show India's Most Wanted. The host of the show, Suhaib Ilyasi, claimed to have received threat calls from Shukla after that. He has also said that he got an anonymous phone call on 10 September 1998 saying Shukla and his associates had been seen in a blue Daewoo Cielo near AIIMS Delhi. On 21 September, another anonymous caller said that Shukla and his associates had been seen in Ghaziabad in a blue Daewoo Cielo. The tips were forwarded to the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police. On 5 November 1998, Pritam Singh, a member of the STF, was shot dead by members of Shukla's gang.

In popular culture In 2005, a film, Sehar, based on the STF's work which killed Shukla was released. The character based on Shukla was played by Sushant Singh. In 2010, a Game series, Gunahon Ka Devta, was broadcast. One of the characters was based on Shukla. Zee5's Rangbaaz first session is based on Shukla's character played by Saqib Saleem. JioCinema's Inspector Avinash is based on the STF which killed Shukla.