Wanted gangster Sube Singh arrested at IGI Airport

Gujjar allegedly used to be the right-hand man of another gangster Kaushal. However, after a financial dispute, they parted ways and Gujjar allegedly started targeting Kaushal’s extortion racket. He allegedly took over Kaushal’s gang after he was arrested

The Haryana Police Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday said they arrested wanted gangster Sube Singh Gujjar, 32, from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi.

Gujjar was wanted in more than 100 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder and extortion in Gurugram, Delhi and Rewari. (HT Photo)

Gujjar allegedly used to be the right-hand man of another gangster Kaushal. However, after a financial dispute, they parted ways and Gujjar allegedly started targeting Kaushal’s extortion racket. He allegedly took over Kaushal’s gang after he was arrested.

Gujjar was wanted in more than 100 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder and extortion in Gurugram, Delhi and Rewari. The police had declared a reward of ₹7.60 lakh for information that led to Singh’s arrest.

STF deputy inspector-general Satheesh Balan said Gujjar was arrested after he exited the airport.

“We had been monitoring him for the last many months. He was shifting his hideouts from one place to another-- in Chennai, Alwar in Rajasthan, Patna in Bihar and Visakhapatnam. Whe had been close to arresting him too but he evaded us. We got to know Gujjar would be arriving from Goa and a team was sent to arrest him outside the airport,” said Balan.

STF inspector Varun Dhaiya said that Gujjar had changed his look and lost weight making it difficult to identify him. “It was a big challenge to get a hold of him. We managed to follow him outside the airport and caught hold of him before he could board a cab. He was alone and had ₹3,000 on him,” he said.

Sube was declared a proclaimed offender by a district court in April 2018. Singh’s properties comprise two plots, one of 1.3 acres in Bar Gujjar village near Manesar and another of 0.8 acres in Manesar industrial area, both properties were auctioned but police could not find any buyers.

In 2019 and 2021, the district administration tried to auction the properties twice.

Officials said Gujjar lived in Nepal for over 18 months after he went absconding from Gurugram in 2016 and was running operations from there. He is involved in more than 100 cases of extortions, kidnapping, murder and attempt to murder and is mostly involved in collecting money from traders, jewelers, sweet shop owners, bakery owners and prominent transporters and industrialists, who are scared of complaining to the police.

The police added that this month, Gujjar was planning to shift to another place in Rajasthan but he was arrested.

Dahiya said Gujjar had shifted eight locations in Goa in the last five months since December 2021 and he never lived in any hotel as he was finding it difficult to make ends meet. “He was initially living in an apartment near north goa, where he lived for nearly two months. Later, he shifted to South Goa and Panjim. His wife also stayed him for a few months but we are yet to verify her whereabouts,” he said.

The police said Gujjar did not even trust his friends with his location and never disclosed it to anyone except two of his associates who lived with him in Goa. He had last changed his location on Thursday to come to Delhi to collect money from his associates.

According to the police, there are numerous cases of murder, extortion, blackmail and threat calls, made through international numbers, against Gujjar; he has more than 200 cases registered against him in Haryana.

Police said Gujjar used internet-based calling to ensure his whereabouts could not be traced. He used voice over internet protocol (VoIP) to make extortion and threatening calls. He was using virtual numbers, i.e., a number without a directly associated line, to make the businessmen feel that they are getting calls from outside India.