Delhi’s ‘Godmother’ of crime held, again
NEWDELHI:THE ‘Godmother’ of one of Delhi’s largest crime families, 62-year-old Basiran, was arrested on Friday from south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar from where she allegedly ran her ‘criminal empire’ with her eight sons, including a juvenile, for almost two decades. She was wanted in a “contract killing” case for the last eight months.
Police said a total of 113 cases, including murder, contract killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, bootlegging, and robbery are registered against Basiran and her family members. There are nine cases against Basiran at the Sangam Vihar police station alone.
“Basiran’s latest arrest is in connection with the contract killing case of 21-year-old Miraj in 2017. Her two sons are already in jail in the contract killing case,” said a police officer, who was part of the team that arrested Basiran.
Basiran, who is considered by the police to be the ringleader of a crime syndicate, had control over three government borewells in Sangam Vihar. The family was illegally extracting water from these wells and selling it to local residents, said police.
“Basiran and her gang members, mostly friends of her two jailed sons, control the three borewells and illegally sell water. They charge anywhere between ₹600 and ₹1,000 per month from each household,” said another police officer on the condition of anonymity.
Deputy commissioner of police (South) Romil Baaniya said Basiran was evading arrest for the last eight months in Miraj’s murder case in which four others, including a woman named Munni Begum were arrested. Her two sons — Rahul Khan and Shamim alias Gunga — were the mastermind behind it despite being in jail.
Miraj’s semi-decomposed body with strangulation marks was found in Sangam Vihar’s K-block jungle in September 2017. The case was solved in January this year when police apprehended a minor boy and he disclosed that it was a contract killing that was executed by hitmen of Basiran and her sons.
“Basiran took a contract of ₹60,000 for Miraj’s murder from his step-sister Munni Begum, who wanted him to be killed because he had been eyeing her daughter,” said an investigator.
Basiran was declared a proclaimed offender as she was evading law and all her properties in Delhi were attached and seized on the court’s orders. The regular police raids forced her family members and accomplices to leave the Sangam Vihar area. The objective was to weaken Basiran financially and psychologically and make her surrender, said police. “Our strategy worked and Basiran was caught on Friday when she reached Sangam Vihar to meet some people, including lawyers, to seek their help in getting her properties back,” said the first officer.