Delhi Godmother’s run ends

Mafia queen on way to retrieve assets runs into police trap

The “Godmother” of organised crime, also addressed as the “Mother of Gangsters” and one of the most dreaded and wanted women criminals of the national Capital, sexagenarian Basiran, alias Mammi, has finally been arrested by the South district police.

She was wanted in a murder case and has been evading arrest for the last eight months, hiding in Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Mainpuri and Firozabad after fresh charges of murder and kidnapping surfaced against her. She and her sons have been accused of bootlegging, murder, robbery, contract killing, snatching and other such crimes in a total of 113 cases against her and her family members. Basiran, declared proclaimed offender, had control over Government borewells in Sangam Vihar and was running a water supply mafia.

“A case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has been registered against her son Shamim Gunga. She, along with other family members, will also be booked under the case for amassing wealth from crime proceeds,” said Romil Baaniya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South district.

Last year in September, a semi-decomposed body was recovered from the forest area at Block K, Sangam Vihar. Victim Miraz was strangulated. During investigation in January this year, one of the accused was apprehended who spilled beans on his accomplices, including Basiran and four others identified as Aakash, Vikash, Neeraj and Munni Begum, step-sister of the deceased. Following which, Basiran fled the area. But she could not evade arrest for long as police were hunting for her.

On Friday, the Delhi Police received information that Basiran would be meeting some family members to plan a strategy to retrieve her seized property. She had earlier applied for anticipatory bail and for the release of her property in Saket Courts. However, owing to her previous criminal records, both were strongly objected by the court, the DCP said.

Subsequently, a trap was laid and the accused was apprehended at 12.10 pm by a team from Sangam Vihar police station.

On sustained interrogation, Basiran admitted to murdering Miraz and claimed that she took the contract of killing the victim for Rs 60,000 from Munni Begum. She told police that along with her associates, they took the victim to the forest area in Block K, Sangam Vihar, and strangulated him with a belt before burning his body so as to hide his identity.

“Basiran was born in village Basai Arela of Agra and was married to one Malkhan of Amberpur Tehsil Rajakhera, district Dholpur in Rajasthan about 45 years ago. In the early 80’s she, along with her husband, came to Delhi and stayed at Navjeevan Camp Jhuggi in Govindpuri in Delhi. Later, she shifted to Sangam Vihar, along with her family, in early nineties. 

“She was not having any permanent source of income therefore she started to sell illicit liquor. Thereafter she never looked back and spread her criminal tentacles. Also, she roped in her eight sons Wakil, Shakil, Shamim Gunga, Salman, Faizal Khadka, Sunny, Rahul and one minor into criminal activities,” said police record.

As she began establishing her dominance in the Sangam Vihar area, she began harbouring Government water bores in the locality and selling the water for easy money with her sons.

“Shamim has been booked under MCOCA) and investigations have led police to the ill-gotten wealth that Basiran's family had amassed over a period of time. We are going to the extend MCOCA to all the members of Basiran's family and the process to identify their wealth and properties has been undertaken. Police teams have been tasked to investigate whether she was linked with gangsters of other states and who all sheltered her during her escape,” the DCP said.