Delhi hardlook: Badlands of Capital — Who are the city’s most feared gangsters (2024)

In the last two months, two major crimes — the murder of a 26-year-old man at a Burger King outlet in West Delhi on June 18 and the GTB Hospital shooting where a 32-year-old man was mistakenly shot dead on July 14 — have brought the city’s gangs back into focus. The first was masterminded by Delhi’s newest ‘GenZ’ gangster — Himanshu Bhau, all of 21. Police said he is operating from Portugal to establish his clout in West Delhi. Behind the second attack is a ‘veteran’, Hashim Baba from Northeast Delhi. Both planned the killings to settle scores with rivals.

According to Delhi Police officers, it was in the 1990s, in the hinterlands, when major gangs emerged in the Capital and its adjoining areas. Over the years, they clashed over establishing clout over land, cable business, liquor. Many are into extortion — threatening businesses to pay them ‘hafta’ (protection money).

One of the first big rivalries can be traced back to two farmers, Kishan Pehelwan and Balraj, in Southwest Delhi. Around 1995, what started as a tiff between the two escalated into full-blown violence that left around 50-60 people, mostly rival members, dead, said police. The dominance of Pehelwan’s gang soon faded when its last big leader, his brother Bharat Singh — a former INLD MLA from Najafgarh — was killed allegedly by rival gangster Manjeet Mahal.

But the rivalry did not end. Mahal, who had dominated the turf, was challenged by Kapil Sangwan and his associate Nafe Singh. Mahal was later arrested and Sangwan’s gang gained prominence.

Gangs then began to sprout in Outer Delhi. In Narela and Bawana, two new gangs led by Sandeep Chitana and Neetu Dabodia began competing for influence. They ran extortion rings. They, however, lost dominance in 2013-2015 when the gangs of Tillu Tajpuriya and Jitender Gogi took over; they continue to hold sway.

A senior officer in the Crime Branch said gangsters usually have their catchment areas where they exert their dominance: “Those based in Outer Delhi have influence in parts of Haryana such as Sonipat… those functioning in Rohini also operate in Jhajjhar as it falls on the same road network… Now, however, even though areas of dominance persist, things have changed as gangsters operate throughout Delhi — a person sitting in Outer Delhi can now threaten a builder in South Delhi.”

He added that the gangster network is “like a tree” that “keeps branching out”. “We cut one branch, but a new branch grows eventually… it’s very difficult to stop it… however, their operations have reduced considerably.”

The Indian Express looks at the numerous gangs — those that once dominated Delhi and that now wield power.

Outer Delhi

Initially, gang activity in the district was dominated by two men from Sonipat — Sandeep Chitana from Chitana village and Neetu Dabodia of Daboda Khurd village. They were neighbours; they entered crime as allies around 2005. Subsequently, division of extortion money and other proceeds of crime caused a rift. But, police said, they stayed together.

Both were arrested in 2009. In August 2012, they escaped from Haryana Police custody after they were brought to a Delhi court in connection with extortion cases. They then split and formed their own gangs.

In May 2013, Chitana was killed in an ‘encounter’ at Sonipat’s Goghrian village with the Haryana Police Special Task Force. Two years later, in October 2015, Dabodia was shot dead in an ‘encounter’ outside a hotel in Vasant Kunj by the Special Cell. The police squad of New Delhi Range was led by ACPs Lalit Mohan Negi and Hriday Bhushan.

With their deaths, these gangs faded away.

Soon, new groups — and players — emerged. Outer Delhi is now dominated by the Tillu-Gogi gangs. Its leaders were among the 20-odd casualties of their rivalry.

Tillu alias Sunil Balyan hailed from Tajpur Kalan. Gogi alias Jitendra Maan was a resident of neighbouring Alipur. Special Cell officers revealed they were once close friends but turned bitter rivals during a student union election at Delhi’s Swami Shraddhanand College.

In March 2020, Gogi was arrested by the Special Cell’s CIU unit from Gurgaon. A year later, in September 2021, he was gunned down inside Rohini Court. This brazen murder, police said, was masterminded by Tillu from behind bars; he had been arrested in 2016. In May 2023, in an act of ‘revenge’, Tillu was stabbed to death, allegedly by Gogi’s men, in Tihar jail.

Though Tillu and Gogi are dead, their gangs still operate in Tajpur Kalan and Alipur, and in parts of Haryana such as Sonipat.

However, a police officer said, the sting was missing. “These gang leaders don’t let anybody rise to prominence while they’re alive. It’s very hard for the gangs to continue their dominance once the leader is gone,” the officer said. “This is why the counter-gang strategy is to crush the head of the snake… take out the leader and the gang falls like a house of cards.”

Another gangster, Deepak Pahal alias Boxer, also allied with the Gogi gang. A junior national boxing champion, he took to crime in 2014-15. After Gogi’s death, he took over the reins. He had escaped to Mexico using a forged passport and was brought back to India with the help of the FBI and arrested by the Special Cell in April 2023.

Currently, gangster Naresh Tajpuriya, wanted in several murder and extortion cases, and Deepak Pakasma, who has a bounty on his head, handle the Tillu gang. Police said Pakasma, Tillu’s cousin, has been absconding for three years. Naresh, police said, has been on the run for over a year now.

Some parts of Outer Delhi are parallelly dominated by rival gangsters Rajesh and Neeraj from Bawana village. These men had allied with Tillu and Gogi as well — Rajesh Bawana forged an alliance with Gogi and Neeraj Bawana with Tillu.

According to Special Cell officers, Rajesh created a flourishing extortion business. In November 2014, he was arrested by a Special Cell team led by ACP Lalit Mohan Negi in Rohini, and booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He was involved in at least 45 cases, mostly related to extortion and murder.

Neeraj, with 300-400 associates, ran an extortion racket in Outer, Northwest and West Delhi. He was arrested in April 2015.

According to police, the two initially worked for Dabodia. Neeraj, police said, would collect extortion money on behalf of Dabodia till 2011. “After Dabodia’s arrest, Neeraj decided to go solo and stopped paying a cut of the extortion money to him,” a police officer said.

This led to a rivalry between Neeraj and Dabodia. To settle scores with Neeraj, Dabodia started supporting Rajesh Bawana.

Around 2005, when Chitana and Dabodia were engaged in their gang war, another war — this one over personal enmity — was simmering in Dariyapur Kalan village. The key players? Gangsters Satyawan Sehrawat alias Sonu Dariyapur and his once-best friend, Bhupender alias Monu Dariyapur.

Special Cell officers said the duo began dominating crime circles in Outer Delhi, especially Narela. They later formed their own gangs and took to extortion and land grabbing.

It was a love story that blossomed between Monu and Rajrani, Sonu’s cousin, that drove a wedge between the duo. In 2016, Sonu attacked Monu in a bid to kill him but failed. Sonu was arrested in the case. He jumped parole in 2009. In April 2017, police said he gunned down Monu and an ASI deputed for his protection in Mianwali Nagar.

In September that year, a Special Cell team led by DCP Sanjeev Yadav, nabbed Sonu following a shootout in Narela. He was involved in several cases including 10 of murder and attempt to murder in Delhi and Haryana.

Southwest Delhi

Gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, from Najafgarh, and Nafe Singh, a resident of Ghumanhera village in Southwest Delhi, have been at loggerheads in the area.

In 2015, gangster Manjeet Mahal and Singh got Sangwan’s associate and brother-in-law killed over a money dispute. In revenge, Kapil and his brother targeted Nafe Singh’s house, killed his father and sister and injured his wife.

Mahal, from Najafgarh’s Mitraon village, was arrested by the Special Cell in December 2016. He has 25 criminal cases against him, police said. Sangwan, meanwhile, is absconding; police suspect he is hiding in the UK.

Police said more than 70 gang members have been killed and they have nabbed nearly 100 of them.

Northeast Delhi

Two gangs led by Akil Don and Atif first cropped up in this area. Their rivalry stemmed from a dominance over gambling money, said police.

In 2012, police said Akil allegedly killed Atif — he received a tip-off that Atif was conspiring to kill him and had allied with upcoming gangsters Nasir and Hashim Baba for the purpose. In revenge, Nasir and Hashim killed Akil in August 2012. After Akil’s death, Irfan alias Chennu Pehelwan (34), who was his follower, became the gang leader.

Akil and Atif’s deaths fuelled the rise of Nasir, Hashim and Chennu.

Abdul alias Nasir worked small jobs before he got influenced by gangsters, said a senior Special Cell officer. After Atif’s death, he formed his gang which had an intense rivalry with Pehelwan’s group. This gang war saw at least 17 murders in the Trans-Yamuna area.

Hashim Baba, or Ashim, took to crime in his late teens. Before forming his gang around 2013, Baba was a sharpshooter for Nasir. He was arrested in 2019 by a Special Cell team. Since then, he has been operating from jail and has ordered at least half a dozen killings — including the one at GTB Hospital this month when a patient was mistakenly shot dead instead of a rival gangster admitted to the same ward.

Baba has allied with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. He has 16 cases, most of murder and attempt to murder, against him.

Chennu belongs to Northeast Delhi’s Seelampur. He and his gang are involved in dozens of shootings, murders over gambling money, extortion, and attempt to murder cases in Northeast Delhi and Shahdara.

In 2015, police said Baba and Nasir hired a juvenile to kill Chennu when he was brought to Karkardooma court in December 2015. However, a Delhi Police head constable ended up being shot dead.

West Delhi

The only gang currently active in West Delhi is the one led by Himanshu Bhau.

Hailing from Ritauli village in Rohtak, Haryana, he became active in Delhi during the last six months. According to Special Cell officers, Bhau makes extortion demands through social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, and sends his shooters to the victim’s home or office to carry out shootings.

In 2020, at the age of 17, he was sent to a juvenile correctional facility in connection with an attempt to murder case. A few months later, he escaped. There are around 17 cases lodged against him in Jhajjhar, Haryana.

Most of Bhau’s extortion victims are property dealers and car showroom owners in West Delhi. In March, his associates fired 35-40 rounds at a liquor businessman at Gulshan Dhaba between Delhi and Sonipat. His associates are the prime accused in the Burger King shooting in June.

He is currently in Portugal, as per Special Cell officers, operating his gang remotely.

South Delhi

Here, the Rohit Chaudhary and Ravi Gangwal gangs are active in Aya Nagar and Ambedkar Nagar, running extortion rackets and illegal liquor businesses. Police said they haven’t indulged in gang war.

Police said Chaudhary was involved in several cases of extortion, attempt to murder, and murder. It was his gang that killed Prince Tewatia, a gangster associated with Hashim Baba and Lawrence Bishnoi, in Tihar. He was arrested in 2021 and is in Mandoli jail.

Gangwal has been involved in a dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder and assault. He was arrested by a Special Cell team in June 2021 after a six-month chase across several states. He has been out of prison since September 2023.

A police officer said the Crime Branch has made several efforts to nip the influence and movement of gangsters in the bud. “Over the years, most of our covert operations where we tailed gangsters or their sharpshooters led to arrests.”

A senior officer with the Special Cell said earlier, police used to prioritise the ‘detection’ method when dealing with gang activities — they would ascertain who the criminals were and put a stop to them. “Now, the focus is on prevention so they don’t spread to other areas/districts of the city and neighbouring states,” said the officer.