The Hindu : New Delhi News : A daring gang ready to confront police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

A daring gang ready to confront police

By Devesh K. Pandey

NEW DELHI, JAN. 1. The murder of Sub-Inspector Mehtab Singh of the Special Cell of the Delhi police, allegedly at the hands of a Krishan Pehalwan hitman, has sent yet another message to law enforcement agencies both in Delhi and the neighbouring States that the gang, which has liquidated nearly all members of its rival gang, has become more daring when it comes to confronting the police.

Krishan Pehalwan, who keeps shifting between Tihar Central and Rohtak jails these days, gained prominence in the world of crime as a member of the Kapil gang which was, and still is, entangled in a bloody feud with the Anoop-Balraj gang and its sympathisers over a property dispute between their fathers at Mitraon village in Najafgarh that began over two decades ago.

In the early stages of the gang-war, the Kapil gang had an upper hand over Balraj's gang. However, the latter slowly started gaining ground by killing rival gang members.

Initially, Krishan was with Balraj but due to some dispute they split and the group headed by the former later joined hands with Kapil's gang. Meanwhile, criminals from both sides entered into property dealing and grabbing tenders, with the land rates in the Capital rising substantially.

After Balraj was killed by the accomplices of Krishan Pehalwan in 1998, Anoop took over the gang and reportedly tried to reach a compromise with the rivals. However, it is said that repeated attempts on his life and attacks on his family members and friends forced him to take to arms, after which he allegedly got several members of the Krishan Pehalwan gang and family members of Kapil. Anoop's men killed in retaliatory attacks.

As Krishan Pehalwan gang began gaining strength after it started functioning allegedly under the patronage of some politicians, things took yet another twist when his accomplices allegedly eliminated Anoop just outside a Rohtak court while he was being taken for appearance on the hearing of a case in the custody of the Haryana police in 2003. It is alleged that fearing an attempt on his life by Anoop's accomplices, Krishan has chosen to remain in the prisons since then.

According to information with the Delhi police, despite being in jail, Krishan Pehalwan manages to hold meetings with his accomplices regularly to give them directions to extort money from contractors.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi