# Prakash Shukla
## Life

Shukla was born in Mamkhor village, Gorakhpur on Dussehra ((1973-10-06)October 6, 1973) as Shiv Prakash Shukla to Ram Samujh Shukla, retired teacher and later Government Contractor. Shukla was youngest among 5 siblings. He is reported to have been a notable wrestler in his village. In 1993, Shukla killed a man named Rakesh Tiwari, due to local gang rivalry in cable TV business. This was Shukla's first criminal record. Following the murder, Shukla escaped to Bangkok. He returned and became associated with Surajbhan Singh of Mokama, Bihar. Shukla has two names in Police Records.
* Shri Prakash Shukla
* Ashok Singh
In early 1997, Shukla killed Virendra Shahi, an underworld turned politician and a member of the state's assembly, in Indira Nagar area of Lucknow. It was presumed that Hari Shankar Tiwari, who was an opponent of Virendra Shahi, would be targeted next as Shukla wanted the Chillupar assembly seat. In April 1998, the Uttar Pradesh police formed a STF to capture or kill 43 top criminals of the state, Shukla (alive or dead) was on the top of the list.
On 26 May 1998, Shukla's gang kidnapped Kunal Rastogi, the son of a medical businessman, from Botanical Gardens in Lucknow. His father was shot dead as he tried to save him. The gang allegedly took ₹50 million from a relative in Kanpur to free the boy. In June 1998, he also allegedly killed Brij Behari Prasad, a minister from Bihar, in a Patna hospital where he was undergoing treatment. Soon after, Sakshi Maharaj, a Member of the Parliament from Farrukhabad, had claimed that Shukla had taken a contract of ₹80 million to kill the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. But, he did not reveal the source of this information.

## 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 that he got 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 22 September 1998, Shukla was shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force (STF), outside an apartment complex in Ghaziabad. Shukla was hiding in the Vasant Kunj area of Delhi. He had come to Ghaziabad to visit his girlfriend. He was on his way to the Palam airport presumably to escape to Ranchi, where his arms-dealer Suraj Bhan lived. By this time, the task force, which was formed in April, had spent ₹1 million in the investigation and had flown between Patna, Lucknow and Delhi trying to track him down. He was tracked down primarily by his mobile phone. He used to change SIM cards but he had used one number more than other for a week. The mobile phone and diary recovered after the shootout provided evidence of his connections with politicians.

## After death

After his death, the STF found that Shukla was connected to various politicians, his godfather and protector was Madhumita Shukla murder accused Amarmani Tripathi, members of Mayawati government and some politicians had provided him shelter. Some had taken money from Shukla in exchange for these favours. 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 TV 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.