Pehal is Capital’s most wanted after Gogi’s court killing
NEW DELHI: Nicknamed “Boxer” in police records, a 25-year-old from Sonepat is now the most wanted man in Delhi.
Though no senior officer authorised to speak to the media wished to comment on the manhunt for Deepak Pehal, people aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity said that police teams have launched a frantic search for him across the city.
The reason, several of the people say, is that Pehal is now the de facto chief of the Jitender Gogi gang after his leader was shot dead by rivals – ostensibly sent by the Tillu Tajpuria gang – in a sensational shooting in a Rohini courtroom last week.
With the killing now exacerbating the already intense gang war between the two groups, police believe that Pehal will be seeking revenge against Tajpuria, and apprehend that his being on the run could spark more violence on the Capital’s streets. There is a reward of ₹2 lakh for information that could help lead to his arrest.
Pehal, who grew up in Sonepat, was a junior interstate boxing champion in 2011, and attended the sports hostel there till 2013, when he was sacked for assaulting a fellow trainee. According to police records, he won gold in 2011 in the junior national boxing.
One of Gogi’s two top lieutenants, Kuldeep Maan alias Fajja, died in a shoot-out with police about six months ago. Another top gang member, Rohit Moi, is in jail. Gogi, Fajja and Moi were arrested from a flat in Gurugram in March last year. At the time of the arrest, Gogi was Delhi’s most wanted man; Fajja was number 2.
Following the murder of Gogi, 30, on September 24, several posts have appeared on social media by self-proclaimed Delhi gangsters threatening revenge against the Tillu gang. One such post on Facebook read: “Phir shahar lal rang se rangin hoga. Is baar jo kand hoga bada hi sangin hoga (Blood will flow in the streets. What happens this time will be serious).”
Delhi police said they are in touch with cyber cell and are in the process of identifying the social media users to delete such accounts. In light of such posts, the people cited above said it important to arrest Pehal quickly.
“Pehal was number 3 in Gogi’s gang but was at par with Kuldeep Fajja. Measuring 172 cm and with the fitness of a professional boxer, he is the muscle man of the gang... In fact, it was Pehal who planned Fajja’s release from police custody outside the GTB hospital in March 2021. Fajja died in a police shootout within 72 hours of his escape from the hospital. Pehal was running the gang from outside, while Gogi was in Tihar. With Gogi murdered and members of the Tajpuria gang in jail, including its chief Sunil Maan (Tillu), it is important for us to arrest Pehal,” said an officer of the crime branch, who asked not to be named.
When Pehal helped Fajja break out of police custody, it was the second time he had done something like this. In 2016, he helped Gogi escape. On both occasions, Pehal and his accomplices threw chilli powder in the eyes of policemen escorting the prisoners.
Officials in the crime branch and special cell said they are on high alert. Pehal is accused of being involved in at least six murders of rivals in the past few years. A similar alert has already been sounded in Delhi’s Tihar jail, where officers have been asked to ensure that no gang war breaks out between prisoners.
A second officer said: “Pehal is young and more violent than the others. He tortures his rivals before killing them.” He also cited a police file on Pehal’s life. His preferred method of crime on the file reads: “forcible hanging.”