Haryana STF arrests wanted gangster Kaushal at IGI Airport

Earlier on August 17, at least four senior police officers from the Haryana Police had confirmed to HT that the gangster had been arrested in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a joint operation by the Haryana Police and authorities in Dubai.

The special task force (STF) of Haryana police on Monday said they arrested most-wanted gangster Kaushal from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi, in the wee hours of Monday.

The Special Task Force (STF) Haryana police with gangster Kaushal who was arrested from IGI Airport early morning, at Police Commissioner Office, in Faridabad, Haryana, August 26, 2019. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Police commissioner of Faridabad, KK Rao, who took charge on Monday, said in a press conference that the Delhi airport authority handed over Kaushal to the STF team around 4.20am at the airport after his details were scanned by the immigration officer and found that a Red Corner Notice and a lookout circular (LOC) was issued against him.

“We (STF) received a call from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) around 3.30am that the immigration department has informed them of the most-wanted gangster’s arrival at the airport. One of the STF teams was sent to the airport to take him into custody and he was brought to Gurugram,” said Rao, who was the STF chief till last week.

Earlier on August 17, at least four senior police officers from the Haryana Police had confirmed to HT that the gangster had been arrested in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a joint operation by the Haryana Police and authorities in Dubai. Rao, however, denied that Kaushal was arrested in Dubai. Deputy General of Police Manoj Yadava refused to comment.

On Monday, Kaushal was produced before the district and sessions judge and taken on seven days police remand, Rao said. “Kaushal was carrying one shoulder bag and 7,000 dirhams ( ₹14 lakh) and three passports with him. He was also in possession of 14 smartphones and more than 20 SIM cards,” he said.

Police said he was carrying a Spanish passport, which was made on forged documents and under the assumed identity of Hitesh Kumar. “Kaushal had paid ₹20 lakh to get this fake passport made through an agent in Dubai. He had backdated the passport—2011—for 10 years and it would have expired in 2021. We are verifying the details and will write to the Dubai authorities to take action against the travel agent involved in the illegal documentation,” the officer said.

The police added that this month, Kaushal was planning to shift to Spain through Oman.

The police said they had issued a LOC against Kaushal in June, 2018, and on February 21 this year they had issued a Red Corner Notice against him as well.

Police officers privy to the investigation said Kaushal had shifted eight locations in Dubai since December 2017. He was initially living in an apartment near Jumeirah Beach, where he lived for nearly three months. Later, he shifted to Al Mankhool, Ajman, Um AI Quwain and Al Ain.

The police said Kaushal did not even trust his friends with his location and never disclosed it to anyone except three of his associates who lived with him in Dubai. He had last changed his location after his live-in partner came to India on May 16.

“He had arrived in Dubai on a tourist visa and then took a work visa for two years. He never worked there and often visited night clubs and movie theatre. He never bought any vehicle and used to travel either by metro or by cabs. In January, he had visited Thailand for 13 days on a tourist visa,” an officer said requesting anonymity.

Former commissioner of police, Faridabad, Sanjay Kumar had visited Dubai in the first week of August and met the local officers there regarding Kaushal’s case. He had formed a special investigation unit (SIT) in June consisting of five police officers, led by Palwal superintendent of police Narender Bijarniya, assistant commissioner of police (crime) Anil Kumar, inspector Anand Kumar and inspector Narender Chauhan, the police said.

The STF teams were also tracking Kaushal’s movement and had visited Dubai this year, the police said.

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

Police said Kaushal 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.