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Home minister Amit Shah monitored operation to nab gangster: Officials
Delhi Police’s units such as Special Cell and the Crime Branch have arrested 51 hardcore top operatives of this gangster-terrorist nexus, and 217 mid-level criminals in last six-seven months
Union home minister Amit Shah has closely monitored the seven-month long crackdown on the nexus of north India- based gangsters, including Deepak Boxer, and Pakistan-backed terror groups, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
So far, close to 300 gangsters and mid-level criminals have been arrested by Delhi Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as part of the crackdown, the officials added.
“The home minister has been leading the crackdown on interstate gangs operating in and around Delhi-NCR and other parts of the country. During regular review meetings, he gave specific instructions to the special units of Delhi police and the central agencies to pursue these organised criminals and terrorists hiding and operating from different parts of the country as well as foreign countries including Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, the US etc. This has resulted in the arrest of several dreaded criminals in the last six-seven months,” said an official at the North Block, who did not wish to be named.
Delhi Police’s units such as Special Cell and the Crime Branch have arrested 51 hardcore top operatives of this gangster-terrorist nexus, and 217 mid-level criminals in last six-seven months, besides seizing a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including AK-47s, MP-5, grenade launchers and hand grenades etc, the official said.
“These 51 hardcore criminals’ arrest have broken the backbone of the gangs of Pakistan-based Harwinder Singh Rinda and Canada-based Lakbhir Singh Landa and Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala. Delhi Police has helped police of all neighbouring states by arresting these top criminals,” said another officer, who also requested anonymity.
Police in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh etc. have carried out coordinated raids several times in last six months to dismantle the entire gangster-network, which according to an NIA charge sheet filed last month, established itself like an ecosystem seen in Mumbai in the 1990s when the underworld had links with the music and film industries, singers, kabbadi players and lawyers, and they carried out targeted killings freely.
Besides, NIA has arrested 27 gangsters and their associates in last six months after raids at over 200 locations and hideouts in five rounds in seven states. It has also seized 13 properties, frozen 95 bank accounts and issued 20 look out circulars against these criminal-terrorists.
The home ministry officials said that the coordination between state police forces, NIA, the Central Bureau of Investigation (which is the nodal agency for Interpol in India) and international agencies has been impeccable to target these gangster-terrorists.
“The arrest of (Deepak) Boxer from Mexico is a classic example of an extensive, multi-continental joint police and administrative effort. Delhi Police and Interpol India office coordinated with the FBI, HSI and Mexican authorities to locate and arrest the gangster, in first such operation on foreign soil,” said the second officer.
NIA probe in three cases being investigated by it against these criminals has revealed that the accused have involvement in terror, violence and criminal activities, including targeted hits, supari killings and extortions from industrialists, businessmen and professionals.
“These gangs were using cyberspace to publicise their acts of terror and violence to spread fear and panic among the public at large. NIA has found that many of these conspiracies to kill and extort were being hatched from inside jails of different States and were being executed by an organized network of operatives based abroad,” said a third officer.
