Case File: When Delhi gangsters break code, get personal & target family members

At least six incidents have been reported in Delhi, of the family members of gangsters being killed in “revenge killings” by rivals. Here's why

Brahm Prakash (55) was seated on a charpoy outside a shop in the semi-urban village of Khera Khurd in Delhi’s Narela on the morning of May 7, when three men on a bike stopped in front of him. They fired 11 bullets. Six hit him, killing him on the spot. The reason he was murdered — he is the father of a jailed Delhi gangster, Kapil Maan.

In the past two months, there have been at least six incidents of Delhi gangsters targeting family members of their rivals.  (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A week later, in the nearby Bawana area, Parul alias Anuj (19), a teenager with no criminal record, was shot dead outside his house. His only crime — he was the cousin of jailed Delhi gangster, Naveen Bali, who executed Brahm Prakash’s murder.

In the past two months, there have been at least six incidents of Delhi gangsters targeting family members of their rivals. In these five incidents, at least four people have died, two were injured, and in one case, the police prevented a murder before it was executed.

Police officers, who work on such gangs, said the city’s criminals have not only been desperate, but are also getting personal. This is a break from the past, from an unwritten rule that most gangsters follow – that family members are not to be dragged into gang wars.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be named, said that with most of the city's top gangsters behind bars and Delhi’s Tihar jail on high alert, some gangsters are targeting family members of their rivals to settle scores.

The semi-urban villages of the national Capital are suddenly on high alert. Most jailed Delhi gangsters hail from the semi-urban villages bordering the national Capital, such as Bawana, Sultanpur Dabas, Khera Khurd, Alipur, and Tajpur.

The officer said the desperation of city gangsters is evident from a case they came across two months ago. On May 24, the police apprehended two juveniles with two semi-automatic pistols and 20 cartridges. The two juveniles were tasked to murder gangster Neeraj Bawana’s father. Neeraj Bawana is currently in jail. Bawana’s father has approached the police for security.

“The two teenagers said they were given the weapons by a man named Hitesh, who is a close accomplice of another gangster Kapil Maan. Kapil, who is a member of the Jitender Gogi-Kala Jathedi gang, had planned to murder Bawana’s father to avenge his father, Brahm Prakash’s murder. Kapil is in jail but to help him avenge the murder, his accomplices were assisting the two juveniles with the logistical support,” said a police officer.

The police said the gangs are targeting families because they are unable to settle their scores in prison, where the ring leaders are lodged. Only last month, Delhi’s Tihar jail officers transferred over 30 gangsters to different cells within the prison complex to prevent gang wars. Sandeep Goel, director-general of the prison, said, “We have transferred at least 30 gangsters.”

The transfers were done after the prison department checked the linkages of every gangster and ensured that they or their accomplices were not lodged together with their rivals.

Delhi’s top gangsters such as Neeraj Bawana, Sunil Maan alias Tillu Tajpuria, and Naveen Bali – all from one gang — are lodged in different jails across the Tihar prison complex. The rival gang comprising gangsters Kala Jathedi, Rohit Moi, Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and Kapil Mann alias Kalu, too, are behind bars.

In the past year, different gangs in Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi have formed new alliances. For example, Punjabi gangster Bishnoi teamed up with Jathedi and Jitender Gogi gang. This prompted Bishnoi’s rival Bambiha gang to team up with Delhi’s Tillu Tajpuriya and Neeraj Bawana gang.

A second police officer, who also asked not to be named, said, "Tihar jail is on high alert after last year’s killing of gangster Jitender Gogi by Tillu Tajpuria and also the controversies related to corruption in jail. So naturally, there is high alert and vigilance inside the jail. The prison authorities do not want any more controversy and have suddenly increased vigil and are more careful when lodging inmates. They are ensuring that even distant members of rival gangs are not lodged together. Now because these gangsters are unable to do anything in prison, they are attacking the family members outside. This is personal.”

This was evident even in the recent murder of a man named Pawan Goyal, who was shot dead in northeast Delhi’s Nandnagari on June 15 in GTB Enclave. When police arrested the assailant, Sandeep Gurjar, the man said he murdered Pawan because he was the brother of Praveen Goyal, a man whom Sandeep suspected of being involved in the attempted murder of his uncle last year.

Police suspect the recent killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29 in Punjab, could lead to gang wars in Delhi too. Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi is the prime accused. Social media is flooded with threats of revenge from multiple unverified accounts of Tillu Tajpuria, who is Bishnoi and Jathedi’s rival. Almost every message has the leitmotif: Revenge.

Retired IPS officer, Ajai Raj Sharma, who worked as director-general in Uttar Pradesh and also as the Delhi police chief said that until 2-3 decades ago, gangsters or dacoits were constrained to the rural areas of the country. “The urban gangster culture started with the Mumbai underworld. They were glamorised in the movies. This then led to gangster culture in the urban area. In the last 10 years or so, gangsters and gang wars have become common in Delhi. It has become a menace. These are the new-age gangsters who do not mind spilling anyone’s blood to spread notoriety or take revenge. In the olden days, when family members died in gang wars, it would be a result of being caught in the crossfire. It was rare for gangsters or dacoits to target family members,” he said.

Another retired Delhi police officer, Ashok Chand, who headed the crime branch and special cell in the past, said while the Mumbai underworld followed the unwritten rule of not targeting family members, Delhi gangsters chose to ignore this. “Even in the case of Delhi first reported gang wars between Kishen Pehalwan and Anoop Balraj, they were targeting relatives. This ended with the murder of Pehalwan’s brother, Bharat Singh, who was an MLA, in 2015. They had killed each other's family members in their history of gang wars. The attacks on family members in gang wars may have increased over the last several years but this has happened in the recent history of Delhi’s criminal gangs.”

Some recent incidents of gangsters targeting family members

May 7: Two men Ajay Chaudhary and Yashpal Chaudhary were shot multiple times in west Delhi’s Subhash Nagar by jailed gangster Salman Tyagi. Tyagi planned this shootout because he had a dispute with Shri Baniya, a relative of the two injured men.

May 7: Brahm Prakash, father of gangster Kapil Maan alias Kalu shot dead by three men in Khera Khurd, Narela. Police arrested three men Pawan Sehrawat, Ashu and Gaurav. The three are members of Tillu Tajpuriya-Neeraj Bawana and Naveen Bali gang.

May 15: Parul alias Anuj, cousin of gangster Naveen Bali shot dead in Sultanpur Dabas by Sandeep alias Bassi, a member of the Gogi-Jathedi-Kapil Maan gang. Parul was murdered because he was Naveen Bali’s relative.

May 20: Sandeep alias Bassi (involved in the May 15 shooting) had also murdered Prayag Chaudhary (27) because Sandeep’s gang members had a monetary dispute with Prayag’s father Nirankar.

May 23: Two juveniles were apprehended for trying to murder Gangster Neeraj Bawana's father. The murder was planned by Kapil Maan for his father’s murder. Maan is part of Kala Jathedi and Gogi gang.

June 15: Tent owner Pawan Goyal was shot dead by Sandeep Gurjar, a member of the Tillu Tajpuria gang. Gurjar suspect Goyal’s brother Praveen’s involvement in the attempted murder of his uncle Satish Gurjar.