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Indian drugs smuggler Sunil Yadav, wanted in multiple cases in Rajasthan, has been killed in a shootout at California's Stockton city.
Sunil Yadav was a notorious smuggler known to get drugs into India through the Pakistan route, according to NDTV report.
A few years back, his name had emerged in connection with a seized drugs consignment worth Rs 3.0 billion.
Gangster Rohit Godara, known to be part of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has claimed responsibility for Sunil Yadav's killing.
"He had worked with Punjab police to get our brother Ankit Bhadu killed in an encounter. We have avenged him," he said in a statement.
Godara added that Yadav fled the country when word got around that he was involved in Ankit Bhadu's encounter death. "In the US, he was sharing information about our brothers."
According to sources in the security establishment, Sunil Yadav fled to the US two years back using a fake passport under the name Rahul.
Originally from Abohar in Punjab's Fazilka district, Sunil Yadav was once known to be close to Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara. But the killing of Ankit Bhadu turned them against him, sources said.
Sunil Yadav earlier lived in Dubai and Rajasthan police had worked with authorities in Dubai to arrest him there and bring him back.
He was also arrested in connection with the murder of a jeweller, Pankaj Soni, in Rajasthan's Ganganagar district but was out on bail.