Rohini court shootout: Cops question gangster over role in Gogi’s killing

A police team reached Mandoli jail on Thursday morning and took Tillu to the crime branch office under heavy security.

The Delhi Police crime branch on Thursday got three-day custody of jailed gangster Sunil Mann alias Tillu Tajpuria for questioning him in connection with the murder of Jitender Maan alias Gogi in a shootout inside a courtroom at Rohini district court last Friday.

Gangster Jitender Maan, alias Gogi, who was lodged in Tihar jail, was taken to the Rohini court for a hearing on September 24. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

A police team reached Mandoli jail on Thursday morning and took Tillu to the crime branch office under heavy security. Police have begun questioning Tillu, as he is the prime suspect in the murder Gogi’s murder, officials privy to the investigation said.

On Wednesday evening, crime branch officials visited Mandoli jail and questioned Tillu there for at least two hours. Officials quoted above said Tillu tried to mislead the police and refused to hand over the cell phones that he allegedly used to stay in touch with the shooters and others involved in Gogi’s murder.

“This is just the beginning. After Tillu’s interrogation, we may even take custody of other jailed gangsters such as Naveen Bali and Sunil Rathi. They too were involved in the conspiracy, and helped Tillu murder his rival. In fact, one of the gunmen was known to Rathi as they were earlier lodged together in Baghpat,” said a police officer, who asked not to be named.

Gogi, who was lodged in Tihar jail, was taken to the Rohini court for a hearing on September 24. Within minutes, two gunmen dressed as lawyers shot Gogi dead. The two gunmen were shot dead by police. Until his arrest in March 2020, Gogi, a resident of Alipur in outer Delhi was Delhi’s most wanted gangster. He had at least 19 cases of murder, robbery, extortion and the arms Act.

The crime branch has also written to the Delhi Police cyber cell to block several profiles on Facebook and Instagram which posted messages regarding revenge for Gogi’s murder. Though HT could not verify the authenticity of the accounts, many self-proclaimed gangsters, have threatened revenge against Tilllu gang on social media.

The Jitender Gogi gang is embroiled in a decade long rivalry with the Tillu Tajpuria gang, led by jailed gangster Sunil Maan alias Tillu Tajpuria. In the last ten years, over two dozen have died in the gang war between the two groups. The arrested members of the two gangs are involved in cases of extortion, robbery, car jackings, and contract killings.

“We are aware of such accounts and have written to the cyber cell to block such accounts. We are also verifying if the accounts are indeed being used by criminals,” a senior police officer, who asked not to be named, said.

Police officers aware of the probe details said they have found that besides the two shooters -- Rahul Tyagi alias KK and Jagdeep alias Jagga -- and two others, Umang Yadav and Vinay Yadav, who accompanied the killers to the court, there was another person who was in touch with Gogi.

The senior officer said the fifth suspect was spotted in court CCTV footage. Umang and Vinay have been arrested, but the fifth suspect is still at large.

“The two (Umang and Vinay) have said that the fifth person belongs to Tillu gang, and was separately instructed by Tillu to be at the court premises. They said he met them outside the court and conveyed instructions from Tillu to them. We will arrest him soon,” the officer added.