In a major breakthrough, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has successfully busted three extortion modules operated by notorious gangs led by Goldy Brar, Larwence Bishnoi, Kala Jhatedi and Sampat Nehra.
The arrest of eight people connected to these criminal syndicates were made, revealing an international network involved in luring juveniles for gang activities and using the extorted money for luxurious lifestyles and investments in foreign countries.
Addressing a press conference, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said that this international crime syndicate had been operating across Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The syndicate had developed a refined and sophisticated modus operandi, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track their foreign funds. Each member had well-defined roles and responsibilities within the extortion rackets, displaying a high level of professionalism.
The syndicate's middlemen targeted wealthy individuals, such as bookies, gamblers, real estate dealers, builders, land grabbers, and jewellers, based on their financial status and paying capacity.
"Once the targets were selected, the gang would make demands through phone calls, letters, or visits, using various means to intimidate and threaten them. The extorted funds were then transferred abroad through Hawala channels," said Yadav.
To escalate their tactics, the gang recruited juveniles from the rural areas of Haryana, Rajasthan, or Delhi, aged between 15 and 20 years. These immature youths were enticed by the allure of being gang members and were contacted through Internet-based services.
"They were given instructions to reach specific locations and were provided with weapons and logistical support by masked or fake identity individuals," said Yadav.The newly recruited members were assigned the task of conducting surveillance on the target's residence or place of business.
"After completing the surveillance, they were instructed to carry out acts of intimidation, such as firing at windows, doors, or ceilings, to scare the victims into paying the extortion amount.Following the task, the recruits were moved to changing locations to avoid detection before being assigned a new assignment," said the Special CP.
The entire operation functioned smoothly, with no communication between different parts of the syndicate."The handler, operating from abroad using international members, coordinated with various gang members, including recruiters, logistics providers, and shooters.
The syndicate frequently changed phones, SIM cards, and locations to evade law enforcement," said the official.The extorted funds were collected and held in safe havens abroad, using escape routes such as the "donkey" or mule route.
The police's crackdown on the extortion modules began after an incident on April 23, 2023, when five rounds were fired at a house in Hari Nagar Ashram.Following the incident, a case was registered based on eyewitness testimony, revealing a series of threatening calls and messages, with the sender claiming himself as gangster Anmol Bishnoi (brother of Lawrence) and demanding an extortion amount of Rs two crore.
Subsequently, a separate case was registered after another firing incident occurred at an adjacent house.Through careful analysis of CCTV footage and tracking the movement of the alleged individuals, the police were able to identify the shooters who belonged to village Kilori in Churu, Rajasthan.
"The team focused on village Kilori and succeeded in identifying two juvenile shooters. Both shooters had joined the gang and left the village, and had not returned. After a long meticulous exercise at nearby areas, the team succeeded in locating their hideouts.
A raid was conducted at a PG house in Sirsa, Haryana. It was revealed that the other two accused had left the PG house a few days ago," said the official."Acting upon the secret information, a trap was laid at Dhaula Kuan, Delhi and they were intercepted.
The police party signalled them to surrender but one of them took out the pistol and tried to resist the police team. The police team overpowered all of them. They were interrogated and identified. One of them was major Harain alias Devil, a resident of Rajkot Gujarat and remaining two were found (juveniles).
All of them disclosed the sequence of event leading to the firing incident of Sunlight Colony," said the official On interrogation, they revealed that the accused were in contact with gangster Anmol Bishnoi, who had tasked them to open fire at the house of a Sardar to put him in fear.
The Crime Barnch's same team also busted another extortion racket of the same gang by arresting two sharpshooters of Naresh Sethi gang, after a brief encounter in Delhi's Mundka area.The accused were identified as Sameer (18), a resident of Sampla, Rohtak, Haryana and a juvenile.
The third module was busted after police arrested three people from Rohini and recovered four pistols along with 19 bullets in Delhi's Rohini area.The accused were identified as Sunny alias Prince (19), Ashu alias Parvesh (20) and Parveen alias Shiv alias Sunny (25).
On interrogation, it was revealed that the trio were acting upon the directions of jailed accused Priyavart alias Kala, another notorious gangster of this syndicate."From inside the jail, Priyavart contacted the arrested accused Prince and tasked him to eliminate his partner, a resident of village Qutubgarh. He also tasked him to create terror and fire gun shots at an electronics showroom situated at his village Qutabgarh to extort money from its owner."
It was also revealed that the arrested accused persons came in contact with the kingpins, Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana, Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar of this syndicate."Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar told them to reach the DDU Hospital, near Tihar Jail and at Gurugram, Haryana to collect more arms and ammunition and tasked them with details of other victims to be targeted one by one.
Priyavart disclosed that in 2015, he along-with his partner got the tender to collect cash from MCD toll from vehicles, but meanwhile he was jailed, therefore, his partner did not give his full share of collection to Priyavart from the toll business and so he wanted to eliminate his partner," said the official.