Delhi, Punjab gangsters shift base abroad

DCP (Special Cell) Manishi Chandra told The Indian Express that they have arrested Ankit Lagarpur (23), Ravi Jagsi (29), Rajan Jaat (24), Sumit Bichpadi (24), Amit (35) and Sudhir Mann (29). “Our team led by inspectors Vikram Dahiya and Sandeep Dabas came to know after arresting the accused that they were recently involved in gruesome crimes and were acting on the directions of gang leaders operating from three different countries. Gang leaders Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana is suspected to be operating from Thailand; Satenderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar is suspected to be operating from Canada; and Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi is suspected to have left India to an unknown foreign destination,” he said.

Sources said close associates of these three criminals told police that they were inspired by Dawood Ibrahim and his D-Company and decided to operate from outside. “They only talk over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls and use numbers procured from different IDs,” police sources added.

Chandra said the accused used code language to address their bosses. After they were arrested, it came to light that the “masterminds” are addressed as ‘Tiger’ (for Kala Rana), ‘Alpha’ (for Kala Jathedi) and ‘Doctor’ (for Goldy Brar). “Tiger is the communication hub for all gang members, Doctor manages finances and logistics and Alpha decides the targets to be pursued. One of the arrested criminals, Ravi Jagsi, was also involved in helping gangster Kuldeep alias Fajja escape from Delhi’s GTB Hospital and free him from police custody on March 25,” he added. Chandra said the arrested criminals have ventured into extortion, illicit liquor supply, especially in dry states, and firearm peddling.

“After the arrests of major criminals in Delhi over the last one year, criminals and gangsters from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have been trying to make inroads into the capital to occupy the vacuum. But recently, after the encounter of Fajja, Tiger-Alpha-Doctor directed all the six arrested accused to shift to different states — Gujarat, Maharashtra and Bihar. They directed them to ‘cool down’ and focus on businesses of illicit liquor and firearms for some time,” Chandra said, adding that they arrested the six accused after conducting raids at three different locations in three states.