Ranjan Pathak, the 25-year-old who founded the contract killing and extortion gang Sigma & Company in Bihar, had almost everything going for him as a young child.
His father was a government employee in rural Bihar and his mother an active member of Panchayat-level politics, who would later go on to become the sarpanch of Malahi village in Sitamarhi district.
It was a relationship between his cousin sister and a man from another different caste, however, that ushered a then 19-year-old Pathak's descent into a world of crime, a dossier maintained by the Biraj Police on him says.
On Thursday, Pathak and three of his associates were gunned down by police in Delhi.
According to the police, Pathak was born in Malahi, and was the oldest son of Manoj Pathak and Vimla Devi. He had a younger brother and five sisters.
Manoj was a state government employee - a job that came with respect and prosperity in rural Bihar in 2010s.
Vimla, Pathak's mother, currently the sarpanch of Malahi, hailed from Hardiya region of Nepal, the dossier says.
Pathak, however, was not interested in academics and was interested in local politics, where crime and caste played a big part.
After failing his 12th standard exams, Pathak got involved with some of the local strongmen, the dossier added.
The turning point came in 2019 when Pathak's cousin got into a romantic relationship with a man from the Bhumihar caste
"Pathak, along with his friend shot the man dead. In retaliation, the man's family attacked Pathak. A bullet grazed past his head," the dossier says.
Pathak ran. But his injury needed urgent attention.
"He was getting himself treated secretly for the fear of being caught. It was during this time that the police were tipped-off about his location and he was arrested. He was Unni jail till 2024, the police document added.
In 2024, Pathak came out; the bullet scar on his head now a distinctive feature. But he was soon arrested again, on July 17, for having illegal arms and again on November 19 the same year.
After being released from jail in 2025, he got in touch with Shashi Kapoor, a goon from the Sitamarhi area and started 'Sigma and Company', a gang which was trading illicit liquor.
"He had the support of a local sarpanch and started his liquor business. It drew the ire of another illegal liquor businessman Aditya Thakur. As a result, Pathak gunned down Thakur on July 18, 2025," a police official said.
Police said Thakur's murder unleashed a spree of killings by with Pathak and his band killing Madan Kumar Kushwaha on August 21, CSP operator Shravan Yadav on September 26 and threatening to kill local businessman Amarjeet Kaur if he didn't pay Rs. 45 lakh as 'protection money'. The men then fled to Ludhiana in October, before reaching Delhi on October 13, a police official said.
