Delhi Police crack down on fugitive Bhau’s gang

Delhi Police dismantling gang led by fugitive Himanshu Bhau, arresting members under MCOCA and targeting more arrests in the next few months.

The Delhi Police is in the process of dismantling the syndicate led by fugitive gangster Himanshu Bhau, officers aware of the matter said, with the force arresting at least three members of the gang under provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), and killing four others in encounters.

Gangster Himanshu Bhau (HT Photo)

Police suspect Bhau, originally from Ritoli in Haryana, is currently hiding in the US. He is said to keep in touch with his underlings through social media and instant messaging services such as WhatsApp.

The crackdown against the gangster comes amid two high-profile incidents that shocked the city.

The first incident took place on May 6, when armed assailants fired at least 20 shots into a car showroom in Tilak Nagar, leaving seven people injured. The assailants then threw down a purported note at the scene of the crime, bearing Bhau’s name. Similar notes were recovered from several other car showrooms in the city.

The second incident took place on June 18, when Aman Joon, 26, was shot dead in a Burger King outlet in Rajouri Garden. Bhau took responsibility for the incident in a purported social media post, calling it an act of revenge, though Joon’s family has insisted he was not involved in any criminal activity.

On May 16, Ajay alias Goli — considered a close aide of Bhau, who was involved in the shooting at the car showroom — was killed by the Delhi Police special cell in Ritoli, Haryana. In addition, three gangsters — Ashish Kalu alias Lalu, Vicky Rindhana, and Sunny Gujjar — were shot dead during a gunfight with police in Sonepat, Haryana on Friday.

A senior police officer who has been investigating and following the activities of the Bhau gang, on condition of anonymity, told HT that the force has invoked MCOCA against three key members — Mohit Gahlawat, Ketan Kundu, and Manjeet Baldania alias Cheetah.

Gahlawat and Kundu were involved in the firing at the car showroom, while Baldania is wanted in 10 cases, including five murders allegedly committed at the behest of Bhau.

“MCOCA has been invoked against three already, and documentation for two is underway... At least 10 more gangsters will be arrested under MCOCA in the next few months,” the officer said.

“More than 10 members of the gang have been arrested in the last few months, and to ensure that they are lodged in jail for longer periods, MCOCA will be invoked against most of them.”

Keeping identities under wraps

Investigators said that when they interrogated members of Bhau’s gang, they revealed that they are not aware of the identity of other criminals in the outfit — they meet each other only before committing a crime.

“This is how they operate. Only the handlers abroad are aware of the identities of the men working in India. For instance, Lalu and Rindhana were involved in a murder in Murthal, but they are suspected to have met only a day or two before. They also met each other only a day before Joon’s murder,” a second officer said.

“No two people know each other, and they also keep false names so they can never betray each other if caught by the authorities,” the second officer said.

It is through this technique that Anu Dhankar, a key suspect in Joon’s murder, is still at large — she was last spotted in Jammu on June 20, and the gangsters who are in custody know little about her.

“There is a huge possibility that even Lalu and Rindhana didn’t know about her role in Joon’s murder till the day of the incident,” the second officer said.