Police claim another Delhi courtroom murder averted, nab 2 gangsters

Senior police officers said the two alleged ‘hitmen’ were sent to kill Sunil Tajpuriya alias Tillu, who is suspected to be the main accused in the killing of Gogi in a room inside the Rohini district court.

Two criminals belonging to the gang led by jailed don Kala Jatheri were arrested following a shootout in outer Delhi's Alipur early on Tuesday morning, police said, and added that the two suspects were part of a plan to execute a courtroom killing similar to the one that took place in September 2021 in which gangster Jitender Gogi was murdered.

The police team with the two suspects. According to the police, at least 22 bullets were exchanged between a police team and the two gangsters before they were arrested. (Sourced)

Senior police officers said the two alleged hitmen were sent to kill Sunil Tajpuriya alias Tillu, who is suspected to be the main accused in the killing of Gogi in a room inside the Rohini district court. Tillu is currently lodged in Delhi's Mandoli jail.

According to police at least 22 bullets were exchanged between a police team and the two gangsters before the two suspects were arrested. They said the suspects had been directed by their handler--Jatheri and his key aide Goldy Brar, who is suspected to be hiding in Canada--to also kill a Delhi Police constable, who they suspect was an “informer” of a rival gang.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer-north) Brijendra Kumar Yadav said the two alleged sharpshooters from Haryana fired eight rounds, and the police team fired 14. Nobody was hurt in the gunbattle, the DCP said.

He added that two bullets hit a woman sub-inspector, identified by her first name Rashmi, but she was saved by a bulletproof vest that she had worn, Yadav said.

“The woman sub-inspector saved the life of a head constable who was actually the target of the bullets fired by the two criminals. She quickly pushed him aside, and in the process two bullets hit her bulletproof vest. The suspects were overpowered and caught after nearly a 100-metre chase,” the DCP said.

According to investigators associated with the case, the police had been receiving inputs that members of Kala Jatheri-Lawrence Bishnoi gang were planning to kill Tillu to avenge Gogi’s murder. Police teams were stationed in various locations of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi to gather information about the movements of the gang members and foil their plan, they said.

On Monday (February 28) night, a team received specific information that an alleged sharpshooter of Jatheri-Bishnoi gang, Parvinder alias Kala, who was wanted in cases of murder and robbery in Delhi, Haryana and Bengaluru, has come to Delhi with his associate to kill Tillu and a Delhi Police constable. The information was developed, and it was learnt that the two suspects would be passing through Tivoli Farm in Alipur on a stolen motorcycle in the early hours of Tuesday, the DCP said.

A police team was deployed in the area that noticed a bike moving towards Tivoli Farm at 2.15am. The rider was signalled to stop, but he sped away. When the police surrounded them, they left the bike and tried to run on foot.

“Our team members chased them, and the suspects fired at them. The police also fired back. A total of 22 bullets were exchanged before the suspects were overpowered and their firearms were seized. They were identified as Parvinder,32, and his associate Toni,22. Two pistols and four cartridges were recovered from them,” the DCP added.

Quoting interrogation details, the police said Parvinder told them that he had received orders from Jatheri through Goldy Brar to kill Tillu and a policeman.

“Parvinder was told to kill Tillu the same way that Gogi was murdered inside the court. Parvinder and Toni were yet to conduct a reconnaissance of the court complex and their escape routes after executing the plan,” the officer added.

Police said that Parvinder was involved in a ₹24.70 lakh robbery at Delhi’s Lahori Gate area and another robbery of ₹35 lakh in Haryana’s Jhajjar in 2019. In 2020, he robbed ₹7 lakh in Jhajjar. A murder case was also registered against him in Bengaluru the same year.