Bawana bizman murder: 5 held over Rs 1-cr loot bid, no gang link found so far

The incident took place on February 9. Around 11:45 am, Vaibhav Gandhi (35), who was in the plastics business, was shot at a close range in Sector 4 of the DSIIDC Industrial Area, said police. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. A case was registered at the Bawana police station under relevant provisions of the BNS and the Arms Act. The next day, a purported social media post surfaced from an account named ‘Randeep Malik Anil Pandit’, claiming the killing was carried out on behalf of multiple gangs, including Lawrence Bishnoi, Jitender Gogi and Kala Rana, and alleging that Gandhi had been interfering in their operations.

Ravindra Yadav, Special Commissioner of Police, Law and Order said, “The post also led us to expand our investigation but so far, no gang links have come to fore. The accused wanted to rob the businessman and had been planning this for the last 2-3 months. They had carried out a recce three-four times. On the day of the incident, they tried to rob him but instead he left the car and started running on foot. The initial plan of the accused was to leave their two-wheeler and take the car along with the money but since the businessman started running with the car key they shot him in order to stop him.” The cash was recovered from Gandhi’s car after the failed loot bid.

Police identified the accused and detailed their roles; Arun alias Pagal (37), a bus conductor and one of the alleged shooters, previously involved in six cases; Sandeep alias Pujari (28), one of the alleged assailants with prior criminal involvement; Sanjay alias Tau (54), the alleged mastermind and a “habitual offender” booked in over 50 cases; Ravinder alias Ravi (42), a driver who acted as an informer; and Harish Kumar alias Sonu (45), accused of receiving stolen property.

During investigation, police found that Ravinder alias Ravi, who had earlier visited Gandhi’s office while working as a driver for another businessman, allegedly passed information about the availability of cash at the office to Sanjay, who has more than 50 criminal cases registered against him in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The alleged mastermind then allegedly conspired with other accomplices to rob the businessman. The group conducted reconnaissance of the area several times in January and February before
executing the plan.

On the day of the incident, the accused reached the spot and opened fire as soon as Gandhi arrived at the site of the incident. They fled with three bags from his car containing diaries, a laptop and a mobile phone.

Police teams analysed nearly 1,000 CCTV cameras across Delhi-NCR, mounted technical surveillance and scanned social media platforms to trace the suspects. Based on CCTV footage, technical inputs and human intelligence, Sanjay alias Tau and informer Ravinder alias Ravi were apprehended from the Sultanpuri area. After they were questioned, two more accused Sandeep alias Pujari and Harish Kumar alias Sonu were arrested.

Acting on a tip off, on Saturday around 11:30 pm, police laid a trap to nab another suspect, Arun alias Pagal. He arrived on a motorcycle without a number plate and allegedly fired two rounds at the police team when asked to surrender. Police retaliated in self-defence, injuring and overpowering him. A .32 bore pistol, two empty cartridges and a stolen motorcycle were recovered from his possession.