Mumbai, May 25: As the cops unravel the ugly wrestler-criminal nexus in Delhi’s underworld through murder probe of Sagar Dhankar at Chhatrasal stadium, the Delhi Police is investigating ties between accused wrestler Sushil Kumar and notorious gangster Neeraj Bawana, who allegedly runs his empire from Tihar jail.
Bawana’s henchmen allegedly accompanied the Olympian when the assault took place on May 4. A Scorpio retrieved from the crime scene, registered under a person staying at the same village as Bawana’s maternal uncle, has almost ascertained the link between the wrestler and Bawana. A 12-bore semi-automatic shotgun and some cartridges were also recovered from the Scorpio.
Incidentally, another person assaulted with Sagar on May 4 was Sonu Mahal, who happens to be the nephew of wanted gangster Sandeep Kala alias Kala Jathedi, now believed to be hiding in Dubai.
A total of 19 criminal cases are registered against Sonu. Sushil was allegedly on good terms with Jathedi, but it soured after the May 4 incident.
According to police sources, a flat in Delhi’s Model Town is the reason behind the dispute between Sushil and Sagar.
Who is Neeraj Bawana?
Bawana operated in and around Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Several cases of murders, robberies, property-grabbing and criminal intimidation had been lodged against him in the National Capital Region.
Dawood Ibrahim was reportedly his idol and Tihar Jail was where he learnt the tricks of the trade he wanted to rule.
His ambition swelled when he met Fazal-ur-Rahman, one of the most-dreaded mafia dons and a wingman of Dawood, in Tihar Jail. Bawana picked his brains as the pair spent a couple of months together around a decade ago, as per Hindustan Times.
Through extortion and contract killings, Bawana led his gang to new heights. Although he forayed into the world of crime in 2004, it was the fallout with his former partner Surendra Malik alias Neetu Daboda that got him the limelight, according to India Today. Daboda was later murdered in an encounter by Delhi Police, but the conflict remained unsolved.
On 25 August 2015, police were ferrying Bawana back in the prison van after producing him at a Rohini court when he, with the help of his aides, allegedly killed two of his rivals – Paras Vikram and Pradeep Bhola – who were also present in the vehicle.
In April 2017, he allegedly took out another of his foes Rajesh Dhurmut outside Rohini court. He was reportedly gunned down by two men at the behest of the sharpshooters of the Dabodia gang, Narender and Satish.
Hindustan Times reported that Bawana, Delhi’s most wanted gangster until his arrest in April 2015, once listed his demands for an iPod, FM Radio, and non-vegetarian homemade food to the superintendent of jail number 2, reasoning that he needed these items to “pass time and maintain his sanity”.
Bawana was earlier locked up in jail number 1 with other prisoners but was transferred to the stringent high-security ward last year after Delhi Police informed the authorities that Bawana was allegedly in touch with his gang associates from the prison.
