A 24-year-old member of gangster Kaushal’s gang was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell after an exchange of fire on Monday. Police found that Kapil alias Ravi was involved in two recent firing incidents in the capital — at a used luxury car showroom in Sultanpur on August 1 and at a sweet shop in West Delhi’s Hari Nagar on July 31.
During investigation in the showroom firing, where three assailants fired four shots and dropped a note demanding Rs 1.5 crore as “protection money” allegedly on behest of Kaushal, police found that a similar incident had taken place a day earlier. On July 31, two men had fired three shots at a sweet shop in Hari Nagar. Kapil was allegedly involved in both incidents, said police.
“The men entered the sweet shop around 2.45 pm and started firing. They were wearing masks, scarves and hurling abuses. One of them threatened staff and left a note demanding the money. No one was injured,” an officer said. In the note, they demanded Rs 1 crore “protection money” on Kaushal’s behest.
A senior police officer said the Northern Range of the Special Cell received information that Kapil would be coming to Rohini’s Sector 11. “Acting on this information, a trap was laid and he was arrested after a brief exchange of fire. He received a gunshot injury and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he is recuperating,” the officer said.
Initial investigation revealed that Kaushal had asked a close associate to threaten two businessmen who were not giving him protection money despite repeated calls. During questioning, Kapil told police said Kaushal’s close associate told him to carry out the task.
“We have registered an FIR at Hari Nagar police station in connection with the incident under IPC sections 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 120 (criminal conspiracy), and under the Arms Act after receiving a complaint,” a senior police officer said.
The crime forensic team of the West district was called to lift fingerprints. “They found three cartridges at the spot. Police also found CCTV footage that showed the assailants leaving on a motorbike,” the officer added.
Police found that the sweet shop owner has a number of stores in Gurgaon and only his staff were at the Hari Nagar store when the incident took place. Police said the owner was threatened two months ago to pay Rs 50 lakh by Kaushal’s men.
Delhi Police said they will arrest Kaushal, who is currently lodged in Hisar Jail after he was nabbed by Haryana Police last year, in the coming days.
A team from West district visited Hisar Jail to gather details about Kaushal’s associates, who recently got out of jail. “Some of his close associates were questioned and it came to light that Kaushal wanted to create terror in Delhi, so he has asked his associates to scare prominent city businessmen,” an officer privy to the investigation told The Indian Express.
Last year, Haryana police in coordination with their Delhi counterparts, Interpol, RAW, and Dubai police had arrested gangster Kaushal in a covert operation. He had been evading arrest since December 2016 and was operating an extortion racket from Dubai after procuring a work visa through a fake passport. He is allegedly involved in over 200 cases of extortion, murder and attempt to murder.