Kaushal gang’s ‘extortion business’ chief arrested

GURUGRAM: A close aide of gangster Kaushal was arrested near Hero Honda Chowk late on Friday following a brief encounter.

Police sources said Hariom, alias Tittu, who came out of jail on bail a few days ago after his arrest earlier, was picked up again in connection with one of the three other cases pending against him. Tittu, associated with Kaushal for about 12 years, had been running the gang’s extortion business in the city, in the absence of the gangster who has reportedly been operating from Thailand lately.

On Friday night, acting on a tip-off, the city police had set up a barricade to intercept a black Scorpio carrying Tittu, going towards Hero Honda Chowk from Subhash Chowk.

“We spotted the black Scorpio and signalled it to stop. However, he took out a gun and opened fire, the policemen on duty had a narrow escape,” said Arjun Dev, Sadar SHO.

Then, a police team chased the Scorpio but he lost control on the car that rammed a roadside railing a few minutes later. “Tittu got off the vehicle and tried to flee. But after running a few yards, he fell on the road and the cops overpowered him,” said Dev added.

A country-made pistol and four bullets, apart from the Scorpio, were seized. A fresh case has been registered against Tittu under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault on public servant) and other relevant sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. He was produced in a city court that remanded him in police custody on Saturday.

Police said a resident of Hari Nagar, Tittu was one of the trusted aides of Kaushal, who has been trying to revive his extortion business by targeting traders and businessmen in Gurugram.

On October 16, suspected members of the Kaushal gang had fired in the air inside Om Sweets shop in a Sector 46 market apparently in a bid to intimidate its owner and extortion money.

In July, Hemant Jain, a businessman living in Sushant Lok 1, had allegedly received threat calls from Thailand. Police said Kaushal’s brother Manish, who was arrested along with aide Amit Dagar in August, had revealed that Kaushal had fled the country in December 2017 with a fake passport. “Kaushal jumped parole after he was let out of Bhondsi jail in December 2016. Later, he got a fake passport made in Jaipur on the name of Naresh Yadav and fled to Thailand,” said a senior police officer.