Head constable helped Kaushal gang run extortion racket, held

A 36-year-old head constable of the Faridabad police was arrested, and his service terminated, on Thursday for allegedly helping gangster Kaushal and his aides to run their extortion racket in Faridabad. The police said he was also involved in the murder of Congress leader Vikas Chaudhary, who was shot dead by the gang members in June, following his refusal to pay protection money.

The head constable, Raj Kumar alias Raju, was posted at police lines at the time of his arrest. He had joined the Haryana Police in 2007. The police terminated his services on Thursday and took him in custody for two days, after producing him before the Faridabad court. His name was added to the murder case of Chaudhary and he has been charged under Section 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.

The police said he played a key role in helping the gang members by sharing details of police investigations with them, with respect to their involvement in extortion and murder cases.

KK Rao, Faridabad’s commissioner of police, said that it was revealed during questioning of that a head constable posted with the Faridabad Police was involved with the gang. “Anil Kumar, assistant commissioner of police (crime), submitted a report after interrogating Kaushal that Raj Kumar had played an instrumental role in providing details about Chaudhary to Kaushal’s gang members. He was in touch with wanted gangsters Kaushal, Sachin Kheri, Amit Dagar, Neeraj and Pradeep Dhariwal. He was on leave since August 17,” he said.

The police said Dhariwal had been working as a personal security officer of Chaudhary for the six years and was considered his “right-hand man.” He had his financial details handy with him, the police said.

“Kumar was a close friend of Dhariwal. He had shared Chaudhary’s phone number, besides other details, and had floated the idea of extorting money from him. He used to share the Chaudhary’s daily plans with him,” said Rao.

The police said Kumar had also provided contact numbers of businessmen in Faridabad to Kaushal, to whom Kaushal used to make extortion calls.

“Kumar used to take his share, from the gang members, for providing the details and contact numbers. On August 3, he had received Rs 3 lakh from Kaushal’s mother. Amit Dagar and Neeraj Faridpur are lodged in the same barracks in Bhondsi jail and they used to make calls to Kaushal in Dubai, from jail, using the same mobile phone,” said Rao.

Police had taken Dagar and Neeraj on a production remand from jail for further questioning.

During questioning, Neeraj revealed that he had met Kaushal in Bhondsi jail. Later, they stayed in touch through phone calls. Neeraj also helped Sachin Kheri, who was arrested Tuesday for allegedly shooting dead Vikas Chaudhary, police said.

First Published: Sep 06, 2019 12:00 IST