Four of extortion gang held after shoot-out in Najafgarh

Three of the gang were shot in their legs and police recovered four pistols and ten live cartridges from their possession.

Four men, suspected to be members of Delhi-based crime syndicate “Nandu-Jyoti Baba gang”, were arrested after a shoot-out with the police in Kharkari village near Najafgarh on Sunday night, the police said, while on their way to allegedly kill a businessman who refused to give in to their extortion demands. Three of the gang were shot in their legs and police recovered four pistols and ten live cartridges from their possession.

Police said the gang had threatened traders of different Delhi villages such as Bijwasan, Samaspur, NanakPiau and Dinpur.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav said the four men, who have several cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and robbery against them, were on two motorcycles and they shot at the police when asked to stop and surrender. Police identified them as Vinay Karan, Robin Baliyan, Sumit Poonia and Deepu Dagar.

Police said they are members Nandu-Jyoti Baba gang, whose leader Nandu alias Kapil Sangwan is presently absconding while Jyoti Baba is running the gang from jail. The two men are accused of murder, extortion, robbery and other heinous crimes, police said.

“There was a rise in incidents of extortion by the Nandu-Baba gang, so special cell teams were working to gather information about them. We received information that the gang members would be coming to Delhi to murder a businessman of Malikpur village, who had refused to yield to their extortion demands,” said Yadav.

He said police team laid a trap on the road leading to Ujwa Village form Kharkhari Village, Delhi. “ After waiting for a few minutes, our informant pointed out two motorcycles with four men on them, who were coming from Kharkhari Village and heading towards Ujwa. The informant told us that they were coming to Delhi to murder a businessman of Malikpur village on the directions of the gang kingpin. Our team asked the riders to stop, but they tried to speed away. In their hurry. one of the motorcycle riders lost control of the vehicle while the other abandoned the motorcycle on the roadside and tried to flee on foot. The police team chased them and they fired at the police -- it was a close shave for our two head constables. The police team warned them and returned the fire,” Yadav said, adding that the four men were then arrested.

During interrogation, Karan admitted to providing arms, ammunitions and shelter to members of Nandu-Jyoti Baba gang. He allegedly said he also worked as a driver with an app-based cab service and has around 40 criminal cases against him. Police said the second suspect, Robin Baliyan, was assigned to shoot dead the Malikpur businessman. The other two men were also part of the gang, Yadav said, adding that the suspects were in touch with their leaders, who are jailed in different cases.

Police said the gang had threatened traders of different Delhi villages such as Bijwasan, Samaspur, NanakPiau and Dinpur. Police did not reveal how many of these traders paid the extortion money but said the gang demanded about a crore each as protection money.