7 Nandu gang members arrested in Delhi’s Burari

Devesh Chandra Srivastava, special commissioner of police (Crime), said that the accused were plotting the two attacks following instructions of Kapil Nandu, hiding in the UK

New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s crime branch has arrested seven members of the Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu gang, allegedly involved in a triple murder case in Panchkula, Haryana, last month, from a house in Burari, north Delhi, officers said on Sunday.

Police said Deshant is one of the gang’s recruiters and hired Jitesh, Suraj, and Anil by luring them with money and making them talk to Kapil Nandu. (Representational image)

The gang had carried out shootings outside a Maruti showroom, a hotel, and a supermarket in Delhi last month over gang war and extortion.

Police identified the accused as Parmod, 43; Jitesh, 24; Suraj, 24; Sunil, 35; Sachin,33, (all single names); Anil Rathi, 21, and Deshant Sharma, 27. It stated that the accused were nabbed with weapons and ₹2 lakhs in cash given to them to “eliminate” their next target, a rival gangster and a businessman in west Delhi.

Devesh Chandra Srivastava, special commissioner of police (Crime), said that the accused were plotting the two attacks following instructions of Kapil Nandu, hiding in the UK.

A team led by assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Umesh Barthwal and inspector Rampal received a tip off on Saturday about suspected Nandu gang members hiding in a Burari apartment for days and recently received some cash and firearms.

On Saturday, a police team laid a trap in the locality. “We first caught three accused, identified as gangsters, from a Tata Tiago car. They took us to a rented apartment where three more were arrested. Their seventh associate arrived while we were raiding the apartment. He was also arrested,” said Srivastava.

Officers said they confiscated five pistols, two country-made pistols, 13 live cartridges, a knife and ₹2 lakhs in cash from the house.

In December, three people, including a woman, were shot dead outside a resort in Panchkula. Police said Jitesh was involved in the murder as he was found conducting recce days before the incident.

“We found that Parmod, a life convict who jumped parole last year, is the brother of another notorious gangster, Vicky Sanyashi. The brothers had committed a murder in 2011 in the Palam village area. Pramod had been in contact with Nandu gang and started working on his instance,” said the special CP.

Police said Deshant is one of the gang’s recruiters and hired Jitesh, Suraj, and Anil by luring them with money and making them talk to Kapil Nandu.

Sunil and Sachin were jailed for a murder case and joined the gang via Pramod, who was also in the jail.

Senior police officers said that the accused usually target youngsters from rural areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi to join their gang.

“The youngsters are not told about people operating the gang. They are given anonymous tips and called to remote locations to receive weapons and cash. They all use encrypted social media apps to evade arrest. The accused revealed that the meetings are also held in different cities so that the police don’t find them…,” an officer said.