Rs 3,000, assault and 4kg ghee led to arrest of Delhi crime family head Goonga Pehalwan

The patriarch of a Delhi-based family of alleged criminals which has been active in the world of crime for the last three decades, was arrested by police last week.

Police said they believed that the 55-year-old arrested accused, Mohammed Umar alias Goonga Pehalwan — arrested on charges of extortion and assault — had retired from the life of crime after his sons and nephews took over the family’s alleged extortion business. However, police said, Pehalwan became active again after the arrest of his eldest son Abid on charges of murder. Abid, 31, is lodged in the same prison complex where his father was taken to following his arrest last week.

Explaining the sequence of events leading to Pehalwan’s arrest, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), Chinmoy Biswal, said an autorickshaw driver from Srinivaspuri last month approached them, alleging that Pehalwan had demanded Rs 3,000 from him to allow him to park his vehicle in the area. The man had also alleged that Pehalwan assaulted him when he refused to pay.

“Pehalwan had demanded protection money from the driver and had also robbed the man of 4kg ghee that was in his vehicle. We had registered a case against Pehalwan but he was absconding. He had also applied for anticipatory bail in the Delhi High Court but it was rejected. On July 17, we arrested him from Jaitpur, where he had purchased a new flat. He was hiding there,” said DCP Biswal.

As per police records, at least 13 of 23 members of the Pehalwan family have police cases — on charges of robbery, extortion, murder and attempt to murder —registered against them. Pehalwan’s daughters do not have criminal records but his seven sons, including a minor, have their names etched in police records. Pehalwan has 13 known cases registered in his name. His wife Nababan, too, was arrested by police in an attempt to murder case.

Originally hailing from Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, Pehalwan is a former wrestler. He had come to the national capital in the early 80s with his younger brother Anwar alias Anwar Langda. In the mid 80s, the two brothers had opened a vegetable shop in Darya Ganj. However, they later shifted their shop to the Okhla vegetable market.

As per records, Pehalwan has been actively involved in crime since 1986. Most of the cases against the 13 members have been registered at the local Okhla police station.  

In September 2015, a resident welfare association in Srinivaspuri had filed a police complaint against the family, wherein the family was accused of terrorising residents.