Wings clipped, the don still a terror

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Earning money may still be a tough ask for many. But for criminals it is just there for grabs. Thanks, primarily, to those large number of businessmen and well-to-do people who have lost faith in the police and believe it is better to pay a few lakhs or crores than to repent later. It is this kind of a mindset which has made dons out of ordinary criminals.

While many would not have known Fazal-ur-Rehman alias Fazloo till sometime back, today this one-time Babloo Srivastava gang member virtually leads the bratpack which controls the extortion activities in the Capital.

Though the Delhi police does not hold Fazloo in high esteem -- in fact some of the senior officers even refuse to acknowledge him as a don -- the fact remains that this man from Darbhanga district in Bihar has struck terror in the business community in the city.

Recent investigations by the Crime Branch stress this point. Despite the fact that the Special Cell and Crime Branch of Delhi police have together nabbed 12 leading gangsters of the Fazloo gang, the police have been unable to win the confidence of his victims.

Interrogation of two of the gang members, Karambir Singh, and Narender, by the Crime Branch recently revealed that they had been active in and around Delhi for the past six months and had extorted between Rs 5 lakhs and Rs 15 lakhs from a number of businessman.

But call it cowardice or lack of confidence in the system, none of these businessman lodged a complaint with the police and even refused to divulge any information -- about the manner in which they were approached and made the payment -- to the police.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Mr Ashok Chand, whose team has nabbed seven members of the Fazloo gang this year, says the Dubai-based gangster normally calls up his targets and seeks the payment either through the hawala channel or directly. The officer points out that Fazloo had started as a Babloo Srivastava gang member but ``now operates on his own out of Dubai''.

Mr Chand says Fazal-ur-Rehman -- who was earlier an associate of Dawood Ibrahim and Irfan Goga and has also worked for Babloo Srivastava -- was involved in cases of kidnapping for ransom in Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad and had been arrested in Delhi in July 1997. Upon his release on bail he had fled to Dubai.

From Dubai he resumed his activities by using a simple modus operandi. He would call up his targets and ask for a certain sum of money. The threat would come with a statutory warning -- pay up or face the consequences. And to ensure compliance it was normally carried out.

A senior officer of the Crime Branch says ``people are so scared of the consequences that they pay up and this further emboldens these criminals.'' But, the fact remains that not paying up can prove to be a grave mistake.

In the recent past, the Fazloo gang has been involved in several cases in Delhi. Its members have allegedly confessed to having threatened several persons in Delhi.

Investigations have revealed that the gang had sought Rs 1 crore from a New Rajinder Nagar businessman; Rs 1 crore from a Lajpat Nagar businessman, Rs 25 lakhs from a Paharganj chartered accountant; Rs 25 lakhs from a Naya Bazar businessman, Rs 20 lakhs from another businessman of Naya Bazar and Rs 20 lakhs from a Sarai Rohilla businessman.

Besides, it had demanded Rs 1 crore from a Preet Vihar businessman and when the man had refused to pay up, the gangsters had even gone to his house to shoot him. However, he survived as he was not home.

Apart from making extortion demands, the gangsters had also planned the kidnapping of a farmhouse owner of Kishangarh in Vasant Kunj; kidnapping of a businessman of Rajouri Garden, whose house they had already recceed; and kidnapping of a New Friends Colony businessman, whose house had also been recceed.

But while on the one hand the activities of the gang have increased, the Delhi police have also tightened its noose around the gang members. In the recent past, seven of the gangsters have been nabbed by the Special Cell and an equal number by the Crime Branch.

The Crime Branch had on September 26 arrested four members of the gang while acting on the complaint of a Chandni Chowk-based jeweller, who was receiving hefty extortion calls and death threats. The businessman's phone was tapped and the caller was identified as Fazal-ur-Rehman. Subsequently, the Hari Nagar house of his associate, Jaspreet Singh alias Ginny, was raided and he was arrested along with three of his associates -- Amir Siddiqui, Karambir and Sunil Nautiyal.

The following day, the Special Cell announced the arrest of four other members of the same gang -- Kishan, Hemant, Prakash Chauhan and Vijay -- from Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi. The accused were trying to extort money from a Lajpat Nagar businessman when they were caught on September 24.

A .32 bore revolver, two countrymade pistols, one spring actuated knife and 10 cartridges were recovered from the accused, along with a Maruti car and scooter used by them for reaching the place. Barring Vijay, all the arrested persons had a previous criminal record.

As these two work-outs created a rift between the Special Cell and the Crime Branch as working on the case, both ran on to a collision course, one had to bow out. And it turned out to be the Special Cell.

However, continuing with its investigation, the Crime Branch arrested three more members of the Fazal-ur-Rehman gang this past week. Karambir Singh, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, was caught on November 23, along with Narender, while he was coming to Delhi from Uttar Pradesh in a blue Maruti car. Two country-made revolvers and two live cartridges were recovered from the culprits, who led the police to their associate, Gopal Goyal.

Even though this is another blow to the Fazal-ur-Rehman gang, police sources believe the gang still has a nuisance value. ``Since the gang leader operates from abroad, he is able to recruit more men even if some of his gang members are nabbed. The solution probably lies in the extradition of the kingpin.''

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