Four sharpshooters of the Gogi gang, who had allegedly come to the national capital to kill the leader of their rival gang Tillu Tajpuriya, were arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, officials said on Sunday.
The accused were identified as Anuj alias Mohit, 23, Sagar Rana, 24 and Sumit, 26, all residents of Haryana’s Jhajjar district, and Harsh alias Mithun, 22, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri.
The arrests come days after Jitendra Gogi, the leader of the Gogi gang, was shot dead inside a Rohini courtroom on September 24 by two assailants at the behest of Tajpuriya. The assailants were killed in retaliatory firing by the police.
The police said in view of recent incidents of gang-related violence, a dedicated team of the Special Cell was constituted on the directions of Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana to trace criminals and gangsters as part of an inter-State operation.
Through manual and technical surveillance, it was learnt on October 1 that the accused would be going to Prahaladpur and Khera village in Delhi to murder some members of their rival gang, said a senior police officer.
The police team spotted the car of the accused and blocked their way, he said.
After the accused found themselves surrounded, they opened fire at the police team. However, the police team managed to overpower the accused. Two other members of the Gogi gang, who were in another car, managed to escape, leaving behind the vehicle, he added.
DCP (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said the arrested accused are members of the Gogi gang and had come to Delhi to murder Tajpuriya, who is the leader of their rival gang and the mastermind of Gogi’s murder.
The accused planned to kill Tajpuriya when he was either being produced in court or being taken to a hospital for a medical examination, he said.
“After the murder of gangster Gogi, the accused had also (received) directions to kill active gang members of Neeraj Bawana and Naveen Bali gangs, including Monu Bajitpuriya, Vishal Maan and Naresh Tajpuriya, who were on their hit list since they were associated with Tillu gang,” the officer said.
Nine sophisticated semi-automatic pistols along with 123 live cartridges, among other things, were recovered from the accused, Mr. Yadav said.
Gogi and Tillu gangs have been at war with each other for years and their rivalry has claimed dozens of lives.
