Gurugram, Nov. 9 -- Unidentified individuals shot dead Deepak, 35, a notorious criminal associated with the Ashok Rathi gang, inside his car on a service lane of the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway near Sidhrawali in Bilaspur on Sunday night, Diwali, police said on Monday.

Deepak, who hailed from Sidhrawali, was found in the driver's seat of his bullet-riddled Maruti Swift car, police said.

A senior police officer said Deepak was currently handling all the operations of the Ashok Rathi gang.

"He became the gang leader after Rathi was murdered almost six years ago. Deepak had at least four criminal cases registered against him," he said.

Investigators said the incident took place between 11.30pm and 11.45pm on Sunday but came to light around 8...