Days after shots were fired outside the West Delhi home of Shiromani Akali Dal’s former Punjab MLA and liquor baron Deep Malhotra, the Delhi Police Crime Branch Friday arrested two men, with alleged links to the Goldy-Brar-Lawrence Bishnoi gang, from Haryana.
According to police, the duo — Aakash alias Kassa (23) and Nitesh alias Sinti (19) — were directed to “threaten” Malhotra and on the night of December 3, they fired at the main gate of his house in West Punjabi Bagh. A case under IPC Section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) was lodged.
Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said, “It was revealed that the ex-MLA from Faridkot… got some threatening voice messages on WhatsApp. (Two months ago), two of his liquor s
A team led by ACP Umesh Barthawal and DCP (Crime) Amit Goel, who were probing the case, arrested the two men.
The New Delhi range of the Crime Branch began an investigation into the firing case. “Over 600 CCTVs were analysed and call dump data was checked to ascertain the location of the two men. Eventually, Aakash’s location was traced to VPO Bhatgaon in Haryana’s Sonipat,” said Yadav.
On Aakash’s instance, Nitesh, a resident of Charkhi Dadri, was arrested. During questioning, the two disclosed their involvement.
“… The gangsters have been taking all precautions to thwart our attempts to nab them by acting under layers and layers of conduits. Even these sharpshooters were unknown to each other till a week before the incident,” said police.
Yadav added, “During questioning, Aakash disclosed he met members of the Brar-Bishnoi gang while he was lodged at Mohana police station in Haryana in an attempt to murder case… Recently, he got instructions from Brar via the Signal app to meet Nitesh and other gang members to execute their plan (to threaten Malhotra). The ex-MLA was not paying extortion money… In the days leading up to the shooting, the accused did a recce of Malhotra’s home.”
An officer said the men picked up pistols (used in the offence) from a bag kept on Sonipat road in Rohtak and were given a stolen bike by a middleman.
“After one of them fired at Malhotra’s house, the duo fled on the bike for 500 metres following which they ran on foot to Ring Road where they boarded a bus to Punjabi Bagh Metro station. They got off at Madipur station and took an auto to Peeragarhi. Thereafter, they took a bus from Karnal bypass to Sonipat,” said the officer.
Senior officers said the crime syndicate has been carrying out extortion activities in Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Officers said the gang has over 5,000 members, mostly youth from rural areas with a fascination for weapons.
“Over the years, the gang’s modus operandi has become sophisticated. With operations being managed from abroad (Brar is in Canada), it makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track their foreign funds. Their extortion rackets are run with polished professionalism, with defined roles and responsibilities for each member,” said an officer.
Explaining how the network functions and members are recruited, an officer said, “First, their agents or middlemen identify rich and vulnerable targets — usually bookies, gamblers, real estate dealers, builders, jewellers, businessmen — based on their financial conditions and paying capacity. They then make their demand through a phone call, a letter, or a personal visit.”
It is followed by an explicit threat that there will be consequences if their demands are not met. “Most of the time, they drop Lawrence Bishnoi’s name to instill fear… if the target pays up without complaint, the amount is transferred abroad through hawala channels,” added another officer.
Police said if there is no response from the target, “foot soldiers” are recruited to threaten them. “These recruits are mainly juveniles, aged 15-20 years, from rural areas of Haryana, Rajasthan or Delhi,” said the officer.
The recruits are supplied weapons for the crime by a person, whose identity is masked, or they’re told to collect firearms and the vehicles from a remote spot. “They are told to recce the target’s house, office, or shop before being given the date and time to threaten him by firing at windows or doors of his house. Once the task is done, the men are told to quickly exit. Their locations are changed frequently before they are assigned a new task. The whole machinery works in a well-oiled and synchronised manner with no communication between the different parts,” said Yadav.
