Their leader Neeraj Bawana in jail, the gang’s coffer was fast drying out and they were desperate to replenish it. On Wednesday evening, the gang decided to meet at an outer Delhi farmhouse to chart out their future plan of action. Little did they know that the meeting would be disrupted by unwanted visitors — policemen.
In a surprise raid prompted by an alert constable, Delhi Police arrested all the nine members of the gang that had assembled at the farmhouse in Jaunti village, Kanjhawala, outer Delhi.
They had arrived in three expensive cars – a Mercedes Benz, a Mahindra Scorpio and a Toyota Liva. The police not only seized all these cars but also recovered five guns, 20 bullets and two axes from the farmhouse.
SD Mishra, deputy commissioner of police (Rohini district), said the men had assembled to plan some quick robberies in outer Delhi neighbourhoods. “Their money had dried up. So, they planned to rob fuel stations, chemist shops and businesses that opened late in the night,” said the DCP.
The officer said the gang members were finding it difficult to fund even their everyday needs for the last one year or so. “They mainly thrived on the money raised through extortion. But ever since Neeraj Bawana was arrested in April 2015, more and more people were refusing to pay up. Members of the gang were getting arrested and the gang’s coffer kept drying,” said another police officer, who did not wish to be named.
The officer said that the gang needed the money to pay its members – a monthly amount ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 3 lakh. The extortion money, notoriously known as the ‘Neeraj Tax’, helped the gang members pay their “legal fees” and keep their network of informers happy, the officer said.
“But for the last few months, the gang was struggling to arrange money even to pay for the fuel of their expensive cars and fund their hideouts after a crime,” said the officer.
So the gang decided to target fuel stations and businesses that open through the night. “The outer Delhi fuel stations earn lakhs at night due to the movement of trucks. Many shops remain open through the night. So, they decided to rob them in quick succession to make quick money,” said the officer.
But as they drove into the farmhouse on Wednesday evening, they were noticed by Hawa Singh, a beat constable who was patrolling Jaunti village.
“The constable noticed the gang members driving into a deserted farmhouse. He knew it was a disputed property so he suspected something wrong,” said the DCP.
The constable kept a watch on the farmhouse even as he alerted the local Kanjhawala police. “A team of 20 officers was immediately readied and the farmhouse premises surrounded. When we raided the place, the criminals threatened us with their guns before giving up in the face of our armed officers,” said the DCP.
The arrested men included 30-year-old Naveen who, along with Bawana, was allegedly involved in beating a rival prisoner to death inside a prison van in outer Delhi’s Mangolpuri in 2015. “Naveen was involved in 11 cases and had jumped interim bail in that case,” the DCP said.
The DCP said the arrested men were involved in a total of 19 criminal cases, including murder, robbery and extortion, mostly at the behest of Bawana. “Only two of them do not have a criminal past as they are new recruits,” said the DCP. The arrested men have been booked under the arms act for making plans to commit robbery and assembling for committing dacoity.
The arrests come less than two months after the crime branch caught 15 alleged members of another gang, led by Kapil Sangwan, from Dwarka in a similar fashion on June 25.
