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UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan demands ₹5 crore ransom from former gurdwara chief in Rohtak
Avtar Singh, who owns hotels and petrol pumps in Delhi and Rohtak, said he received WhatsApp calls and threatening messages on July 14.
Police said that businessman and former president of the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Management Committee in Rohtak, Avtar Singh Kochhar alias Doli Sardar allegedly received a ransom demand of ₹5 crore from notorious UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan, alias Nandu on Monday. A complaint has been lodged in this regard on Wednesday.
Avtar Singh, who owns hotels and petrol pumps in Delhi and Rohtak, said he received WhatsApp calls and threatening messages on July 14. Sangwan demanded ₹5 crore and threatened to kill Singh, his daughter Gunjan, and son Gagan Kochhar.
“When I didn’t respond, he called my daughter and threatened her with dire consequences if the ransom wasn’t paid,” Singh said in his complaint to Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya. “He warned me that I’d meet the same fate as INLD state chief Nafe Singh Rathee, who was gunned down last year.”
Rohtak SP Bijarniya confirmed that Sabzi Mandi police are investigating the case and assured that the accused would be arrested soon.
In February 2024, Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) then Haryana chief Nafe Singh Rathee and party worker Jai Kisan were shot dead near Bahadurgarh railway crossing by assailants linked to Sangwan’s gang. Shortly after, Sangwan claimed responsibility for the killings via social media, alleging Rathee’s association with his rival Manjeet Mahal.
In April 2025, Sangwan again made headlines after claiming responsibility for the murder of property dealer Rajkumar Dalal in Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. In a Facebook post, he accused Dalal of illegally occupying plots for Mahal and even visiting him during parole.
A day before the extortion call to Singh, INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala, a former MLA from Ellenabad, also received a death threat. Chautala’s son Karan said he got a late-night WhatsApp call from a UK number, followed by a voice note warning that his father would be “sent to the same place as the pradhan,” referring to the slain Nafe Singh Rathee.
Chautala’s private secretary also received a message from the same number, which warned this was the “final alert.”
In response to the threats, Nafe Singh Rathee’s wife, Sheela Rathee, criticised the Haryana Police for failing to arrest her husband’s killers. “Now, the same gang is threatening others. Law and order in Haryana has completely collapsed,” she said.
Sangwan had previously justified Rathee’s murder in a social media post, accusing him of aiding Manjeet Mahal and his brother in criminal activities, including land grabbing and supporting those responsible for the murder of Sangwan’s brother-in-law. “Anyone helping my enemies will face consequences,” he wrote.
Who is Kapil Sangwan
Kapil Sangwan, also known as Nandu, is a wanted gangster from Delhi’s Najafgarh area. He fled to the UK in 2020 using forged documents and is wanted in multiple cases of extortion, contract killings, and gang wars. An Interpol Red Corner Notice has been issued against him. Sangwan is believed to be closely associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and is being investigated by Delhi Police for the murder of Surendra Matiala, a local BJP leader in Najafgarh.
