Bedsheets, knives and a killing in 15 minutes: How Tillu ran a gang from jail after arrest

A sequence of events while led to the murder of gangster Tillu Tajpuriya on Monday (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

Hailing from Tajpur Kalan village in Outer Delhi, Tillu spent his teenage years learning wrestling at akhadas. His entry into the world of crime — and his rivalry with Gogi — began in college.

Police officers said Tillu and Gogi were once friends, but the student union elections at Delhi University’s Swami Shraddh-anand College where they studied proved to be a turning point as they supported different candidates. The two groups got into a fight and Tillu and his associates allegedly fired at two men, said police, adding that this was also the gang’s first case.

Since 2013, the two men and their gangs allegedly targeted each other over the next decade in their bid to assert area dominance. Their rivalry spawned several gang wars that allegedly claimed more than 22 lives — including theirs — said police.

“The rivalry was also because Gogi’s cousin was in a relationship with Deepak, a close associate of Tillu. Gogi and his gang killed Deepak in 2015, which angered Tillu. In retaliation, the Tillu gang killed Gogi’s associate Arun Commando the same year,” said a senior police officer.

Jailed gangster Tillu Tajpuriya has been heading his gang for over a decade (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

A year later, Tillu was arrested in the case. “This elevated Tillu’s image in the crime world. His syndicate grew bigger. People feared him as he and his gang were killing Gogi’s gang members and extorting property dealers,” claimed an officer. Police said he was involved in over 14 cases and had ties with gangsters like Neeraj Bawana, Sunil Bali, Cheenu among others. The Special Cell had booked him under the MCOCA. As per officers, he had a “trigger-happy” personality and allegedly opened fire in public many times.

He is survived by his parents and three siblings. His father was a clerk at the MCD and retired recently. One of his brothers was a DTC driver but lost his job due to Tillu’s activities, police said.