The rise of Hashim Baba – dreaded Delhi gangster and partner of Lawrence Bishnoi

“Lawrence met Baba in Tihar. Both were vying for influence with the Himanshu Bhau-Neeraj Bawana gang and formed an alliance. Lawrence started getting ammunition for his boys in Delhi through Baba. That’s when threat calls to businessmen by Bishnoi’s associates like Rohit Godara and shootings outside offices increased,” a police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

Hashim Baba, whose real name is Ashim, was born in 1982 to Rashish Ahmad in Indira Vihar’s Street Number 1/2, Gokulpuri, Delhi. Hashim Baba’s family was from Aghapur village in Gajraula, near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Police officers said his father left his village and came to Delhi to his brother’s home in Jaffrabad. “His father was engaged in the sale of footwear. Hashim studied till Class 8 and then left studies to join his father’s business,” said the police officer.

In 1999, Rashish Ahmad managed to buy his own house in Gokulpuri and shifted there with his three sons including Hashim, one daughter and his wife. Hashim Baba also started selling belts in the Seelampur area to add to his family income, an officer said. “Hashim started getting in touch with local gangsters from 2001 to gain influence and fame in the area. He grew close to local gangsters Abdul Nasir and Jamal, who were involved in extortion, theft, illegal betting and the most profitable of them all, TV cable operations,” he added.

In 2002, the first case against Hashim Baba was registered at the Bhajanpura police station under the Arms Act, for carrying a desi katta (country-made pistol). “He became a regular part of firing, robbery, and other crimes in the area. He started carrying desi katta at all times,” a sub-inspector said. According to documents accessed by The Indian Express, Hashim Baba formally joined the Nasir Gang in 2007. By 2010, his notoriety in the north-east belt of Delhi grew so much that his father sold his house out of shame, police officials claimed. With Hashim Baba’s mother already deceased in 2005, due to blood cancer, his father along with his siblings moved back to Aligarh in UP and continued with the footwear business.

Hashim Baba, though, by now had become regularly involved in all the illegal businesses of Nasir, from extortion, and contract killings to illegal betting. He kept going from strength to strength in the Delhi crime world and was now a known entity among Delhi gangsters. By 2013, Hashim Baba was living in Rashid Cablewala’s office, who was another one of Nasir’s sharpshooters. The two were now the main henchmen of Abdul Nasir, who was then in Tihar, a police officer said.

In the early 2010s, illegal betting syndicates, usually centred around cricket matches, were the main source of money for gangs in Delhi’s northeast, the police said. The majority of it, however, was controlled by a gangster named Akil aka Mama, who had now become one of Nasir’s main rivals as he tried to gain control of the betting business. “The rivalry escalated in 2011 when Mama shot down Asif, a close aide of Hashim, for eloping with Mama’s businessman friend’s daughter. In 2012, Hashim Baba killed the girl’s father,” a police officer said.

Mama came back for revenge, and in September 2013, killed Tarbej, another close associate of Hashim Baba. Together with Rashid, Hashim Baba was tasked to eliminate him. On November 14, 2014, at around 12:15 am, while attending a condolence meeting in Jaffrabad, Akil was gunned down by Hashim, Rashid and other associates, documents accessed by The Indian Express reveal. “While others took their shot and went to hide inside a house, Rashid and Hashim kept firing even after Akil died to create terror in the area,” a police officer aware of the case said.

The plan was successful. Hashim Baba was now one of the most dreaded names in the Delhi Gang business. Soon, he started to feel that he was not adequately compensated just working for Nasir, who was in jail since 2013, and also got involved with other gangs, a police officer said. One of them was Delhi’s most wanted criminal Satyawan Sherawat. Sherawat was involved in extortion and cable operations, and was in need of arms, something Baba had a knack for delivering, said a police officer.

“He started supplying arms to Satyawan Sherawat aka Sonu Dariyapur’s gang and a case was registered under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) in 2018 against him,” he added.

Hashim Baba also allegedly orchestrated the 2016 Karkarduma court shooting to eliminate Chenu Pehelwan. In 2019, another case under MCOCA was registered against Hashim Baba and the Abdul Nasir Gang by the Crime branch. Police officers said Hashim Baba then went underground and an operation was launched to arrest him in October 2019.

In November 2019, the police intercepted a call between one of Baba’s associates and his wife Zoya. “Baba planned to meet Zoya in a building in Subhash Park, Delhi. Around 10-12 police officers of the Special Cell encircled the building and asked him to surrender. Baba came out and opened fire with his pistol,” said a police officer. However, Baba was shot in his left leg and arrested by the Special Cell.

Since 2019, despite being in jail, he has allegedly ordered six killings, including the GTB Hospital murder of Riyazzudin in July this year. Eight cases have been registered against him, including four for murder and two for attempt to murder.

“By now, Hashim had created his own gang of eight people. They called him Baba because of his long hair, similar to Sanjay Dutt,” a police officer said. His gang remains one of the last few effective in Delhi.

His gang now reportedly works with Rohit Godara, who is allegedly in the UK, and Bishnoi’s men and assists them with arms. “In 2021, Baba met Lawrence in Tihar jail. Baba had a rivalry with Chenu Pehelwan, while Bishnoi was up against Neeraj Bawana. Chenu Pehelwan and Bawana had entered an alliance, and hence Baba and Lawrence decided to work together as well,” a senior police officer said.

Lawrence needed his name to ring in the Delhi underworld circle. Baba, a veteran of the space, had control of the arms supply chain in the NCR and people who knew the northeast area and influential businessmen around Delhi. “Lawrence gang was supplied with arms and people to demand extortions in the name of Bishnoi and Baba. It sent out a message to rivals that Baba has a new gang with him and still exerts control,” an officer said.

His father and his brothers continue their footwear business in Aligarh. Even with the 16 cases against him, Baba continues to wield influence from Tihar because of his arms procurement network and his alliance with Bishnoi. Baba’s alleged involvement in the GTB hospital shooting in July this year shows that he still holds the ability to execute crimes at his will.