Just over a year ago, gunmen associated with notorious gangster Sunil Maan (also known as Tillu Tajpuriya) gunned down his rival Jitender Gogi down inside a Rohini courtroom, in full view of the judge, marking a bloody end to a decades-long friendship that had turned into a bitter rivalry.
Dramatic scenes unfolded inside Delhi's Rohini Court when two gunmen dressed as lawyers fired at gangster Jitender Gogi.
The shoot-out, many senior police officers thought, would bring to an end the rivalry between the two gangs as well. But case records seen by HT show that at least seven people have been killed over the past year in murders planned from prison by members of the Gogi gang. At least two of them were murdered because they hosted a party to celebrate Gogi’s murder.
“Gogi was the head of the gang and Tillu’s main rival. The rivalry should have ended with his death. But these young gangsters have vowed revenge. They are still active. Some months ago, we heard a rumour that the Gogi gang has also put a price on Tillu’s head,” said a police officer, who asked not to be named.
On September 24, 2021, Tillu’s gunmen, dressed as lawyers, shot Gogi dead in courtroom 207 in Rohini, before being killed by police personnel at the spot.
“Gogi was the head of the gang and Tillu’s main rival. The rivalry should have ended with his death. But these young gangsters have vowed revenge. They are still active. Some months ago, we heard a rumour that the Gogi gang has also put a price on Tillu’s head,” said a police officer, who asked not to be named.
In the past one year, police teams across the city are actively working to arrest fugitives from both gangs and prevent further murders. Last month, police claimed they prevented two murders.
At around midnight on August 1, there was a shoot-out between police and Bhagwan Singh of the Gogi gang near the Bhalswa landfill. Singh was on a mission to kill two members of Tillu gang, police said. Only three months ago on May 23, Singh had kidnapped and murdered Sandeep Paji, a rival gang member. But Singh wasn’t done. That night, when police arrested him, he was on his way to kill Tillu’s associates Deepak Pakshma and Chandan.
Even inside Delhi’s Tihar jail, officials are on high alert to ensure no murder happens due to the gang war.
“People like Tillu are only kept near jailed members of his gang. Others like Rohit Moi (jailed Gogi gang member) are lodged as far as possible from Tillu. We check the antecedents of each gangster before lodging him anywhere. Every month, the list is checked at the senior-most level,” said a prison spokesperson.
While Tillu continues to remain in jail and is locked in a high-risk cell, his rivals continue to attack his gang’s lower rung members. The most recent attack by Gogi’s gang also led to the death of two innocent city residents in a case of mistaken identity.
On Monday night on August 22, two gunmen sent by Gogi’s accomplice Rohit Moi entered a house in Delhi’s Bakkarwala village and shot Joginder Singh (45) and Mangal Singh (60). Police investigations later revealed that the two men had come to kill Satish, a member of Tillu gang, but entered the wrong house.
“The gunmen came to Bakkarwala village, entered a house and asked Joginder (man who opened the door) if the house belonged to Satish. Joginder pointed towards a photograph on the wall of his late father, also named Satish. Joginder or his father is not related to any gang. The two gunmen fired 10-15 bullets at Joginder, believing him to be criminal Satish’s father. A neighbor, Mangal Singh, who was inside, was also shot dead,” said an investigating officer.
A day later, the two gunmen were involved in another murder. They shot a city hotelier in Burari, who had links with Tillu’s gang.
Gogi and Sunil Maan (before he came to be known as Tillu Tajpuria) were childhood friends who got sucked into college politics at Delhi University’s Swami Shraddhanand College in Alipur. The events thereafter began their decade-long rivalry.
Until his arrest in March 2020, Gogi, a resident of Alipur, was on the list of the Delhi Police’s most wanted men. After his death, his two accomplices, Deepak Pahal alias Boxer (who is absconding) and Rohit Moi (now lodged in jail) run the gang’s activities. The two allegedly planned the murders that have happened since September 24, 2021.
Tillu, a resident of Tajpur village near Alipur, is also in jail, but continues his criminal activities from inside the prison.
Prawesh Lama, an Associate Editor at Hindustan Times with nearly two decades of frontline reporting experience across India’s conflict zones, border regions, and disaster-hit areas. He writes on internal security, insurgency, the Northeast, and Left-wing extremism and has reported from India’s hinterland and some of the most sensitive and strategically critical regions.Read More
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