Charged with MCOCA,land mafia member held

“Our team received a tip-off that Jaipal would come to Jahangirpuri area on Wednesday evening. He was apprehended near the Jahangirpiri Metro station,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime),Satyender Garg said.

Crime Branch sources said Jaipal,accused of grabbing private land using forged official documents,had strong political backing. He would use his political connections to threaten his victims into paying a huge amount of compromise money to avoid a court case.

His partner-in-crime,Jagbir Singh,also a senior citizen,was recently arrested by the Special Cell from Balia in Uttar Pradesh.

Jagbir had around 28 cases registered against him in Delhi and his hometown in Uttarakhand.

“Jagbir met Jaipal in Jahangirpuri and the duo hatched a plan to acquire land illegally. They befriended a man with a licensed rifle and made him an accomplice,” a police officer in Northwest Delhi closely associated with the case told Newsline.

The police said the gang,which at the time had six members,identified a piece of land and prepared a fake power of attorney document with a fake stamp. They then either took possession of the land by force or went to the owner with the documents and threatened him,the officer said.

The gang first came into limelight in 1999,when Jagbir was arrested. After Jagbir reached his 25th case and Jaipal,his fourth in November 2008,the MCOCA was slapped against the gang,police said. Both were also declared Proclaimed Offenders in Swaroop Nagar.