Delhi Police cracks down on gangs of Najafgarh, 2 key men arrested

New Delhi: Delhi Police's special cell arrested fugitive gangster Nafe Singh, alias Mantri, from near the Indo-Nepal border on Thursday. An arch rival of Kapil Sangwan gang, Singh had been operating from across the border and often crossed over to Indian side to replenish resources. In a related development, the special cell has arrested jailed gangster Jyoti Baba, the brother of gangster Sangwan who is hiding in the UK, in an extortion case. His gang had recently threatened a BJP politician.
The arrests come in the wake of instructions from the home ministry to have zero tolerance for organised crime and a total crackdown on gangs and gangsters.
According to special CP Vivek Gogia, Singh, 45, was wanted in connection with over 14 cases of heinous crimes, including murder and assault. A reward of Rs 50,000 had been declared on his arrest in a case under MCOCA and he had been declared an absconder in five cases by the court, he added.
Additional CP Pramod Kushwaha said that Singh was tracked down near Sanauli border after days of human surveillance. "Tracking him down was challenging as he had discontinued all contact with his family members and relatives to evade arrest," Kushwaha said. A team comprising ACP Rahul Singh and inspectors Anuj Nautiyal and Chandan had been tracking the fugitive for months. On Feb 19, they received intelligence about his presence near the Sanauli border. The team swiftly moved in and apprehended him, seizing a mobile phone from him without a SIM card.
Singh is the aide of jailed gangster Manjeet Mahal and had been trying to strengthen the gang to fight the Sangwan brothers. According to police, Singh had been hiding in Nepal since Oct 2023. Singh's involvement in crime dates back to 2002-03, when he entered the cable/building material business and got associated with notorious gangster Manjeet Mahal. He was arrested in Feb 2017 and sent to jail, but he escaped in Sept 2023 while out on interim bail.
In the second case, Jyoti Baba is being interrogated on remand regarding the whereabouts of his brother besides his involvement in multiple extortion cases. Baba, a resident of Delhi's Najafgarh area, was arrested in 2019 under MCOCA and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh at the time.
Sangwan and Baba have a two-decade old rivalry with Manjeet Mahal and Nafe Singh, police said. "Baba appeared on the stage of crime at the age of 16 years, when he committed a murder in Gurgaon but was soon released behind his cover of being a juvenile. Soon, he made a name for himself and by recruiting several local village men into a proper gang, he started challenging the established gang-lord Manjeet Mahal, who was ruling the Najafgarh and surrounding areas. The rivalry soon turned into a blood-bath, claiming over a dozen lives," additional CP Kushwaha added.
"Baba was subsequently arrested and after trial, was sentenced to life. After his conviction, his younger brother, Kapil Sangwan Nandu, took over the command of his gang. Baba, however, continued guiding and directing the gang from behind the four walls of the jail," he added. Baba had also joined ranks with some liquor mafias of neighbouring states like Gujarat and has association with notorious liquor mafia like Dhirenbhai Karia, a resident of Junagarh, Gujarat.