Three Gurugram cops suspended for extorting gangsters

Police said it is alleged that these policemen used to collect huge sums of money from the gang members every month and protect them

Three police personnel posted with the crime investigation agency (CIA) of the Gurugram police were suspended on Tuesday following allegations that they extorted money from associates of jailed gangster Kaushal, senior officers aware of the matter said.

The officers were suspended after an investigation in a 2019 case against members of the Kaushal gang revealed that the three would extort money from the gangsters, who themselves allegedly extorted money from vegetable and fruit vendors in Khandsa Mandi in Gurugram. (Representational image)

Gurugram police commissioner Vikas Arora suspended the officers after investigation in a 2019 case against members of the Kaushal gang revealed that the three would extort money from the gangsters, who themselves allegedly extorted money from vegetable and fruit vendors in Khandsa Mandi in Gurugram, officers said.

Police said it is alleged that these policemen used to collect huge sums of money from the gang members every month and protect them.

The suspension orders were issued by Deepak Gehlawat, deputy commissioner of police (HQ), on the orders of the police commissioner on Tuesday night. “Action has been taken against Rajkumar Yadav, sub-inspector presently posted on escort guard duty, Vinod Kumar, sub-inspector posted at Sector 10 crime unit, and head constable Deshraj Singh posted at Shivaji Nagar police station. All three have been transferred to the police line and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against them,” he said.

Following his arrest, Sandeep told police that between 2017 and 2019, Kaushal operated from Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and extorted money from businessmen, industrialists, bookies, property dealers and owners of hospitals. His close aides were managing the gang in India and carrying out criminal activities, police said.

Sandeep revealed the names of the gang members involved in the extortion who were identified as Atul Khatana, Manish Bhati, Suraj Singh, Sujit alias Bhulet, Anil Kumar, Rakesh Yadav, Anand Kumar, Ravi Chaudhary, Purna Chand, Pawan Kumar, Rahul alias Billa, Niranjan Singh and Jaiprakash alias Jay. They were arrested on October 3 from Sector 31, said police.

A senior police officer said that during questioning, the suspects revealed that a few policemen used to take a share of the money collected by the suspects.

Explaining their modus operandi, assistant commissioner of police (crime) Varun Dahiya said these suspects used to fix the prices of vegetables at Khandsa Mandi, forcing traders to sell vegetables at high prices. They used to extort lakhs of rupees from shopkeepers.

“In March, the police got information about an incident in which five to six persons, using the names of gangsters Kaushal and his associate Amit Dagar, extorted ₹3,000-4,000 from every shopkeeper at Khandsa Mandi. An extortion case was registered at the Shivaji Nagar police station and teams were formed to investigate,” he said.