For Tatlu gangs, all roads lead to Nuh
After 500 cases in 5 years and just a handful of arrests, police identify 13 roads where gangs do maximum ‘business’ and have upped deployment
GURUGRAM: From Mughal-era gold bricks, coins and biscuits, to secondhand luxury cars in good condition at throwaway prices, internet ads placed by members of the numerous gangs in Nuh district offer the most lucrative deals to gullible discount hunters unaware of the area’s notoriety.
The modus operandi is simple. For a car, advertise with an online selling portal and set up a meeting point. For gold bricks, pick a number at random, call, convince, meet and loot. The police said the gangs that operate in this way are commonly known as Tatlu gang (the name comes from the word ‘tatlu’, which means a fool).
According to the police data, in the last five years, at least 500 people have been duped in this way; only 148 cases have been solved so far and no money has ever been recovered.
Despite being outed by the media, heightened police deployment and a few arrests, these gangs have continued to thrive. They quickly switched from playing out elaborate ruses for big bucks to looting hitchhikers and siphoning accounts for quick cash.
With no sign of Tatlu gangs slowing down, police officers said they have identified 13-odd routes, including several roads bordering Gurugram, where majority of such activity takes places. The police said all the gangs have used the same stretches to assault and rob victims who come from across the country. The 13 stretches connecting to various villages across Nuh district are known for their high crime rate.
“These stretches connect the villages of Tirwara, Dudoli, Naheda, Singar, Nakanpur, Paima Khera, Maroda, Paldi, Punhana, Ferozeopur Jhirka, Nagina and Pinagwan, which are spread across the Nuh district,” police officers said requesting anonymity.
Nuh superintendent of police Sangeeta Kalia said these stretches are used by the gang members as they know they are isolated and not used by inter-city or inter-state commuters.
In the latest case, a 38-year-old resident of Bijnor in Rajasthan was duped. Jitender Kumar said that on an online marketplace he saw an advertisement posted by one Ajayraj Chaoudhary who wanted to sell his Maruti Swift Dzire. “When I dialled the number given in the ad, the caller identified himself as Rahul Sharma, an executive with an automobile factory in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. He even sent me fake identity cards and his pictures,” said Kumar, who finalised a deal for ₹3.7 lakh. Consequentially, the suspect called him to his residence in Rewari, but when Kumar was 20km away, Chaoudhary called and asked him to come to Nuh instead.
When Kumar reached Punhana, a man on a motorcycle asked him to follow his lead, and led them to an isolated stretch. “He asked us to park the car. Within five minutes, five others, who had their faces covered, came to the spot. Two of them took out pistols and started beating us up, threatening to kills us if we did not hand over the cash and other belongings,” the victim said.
“We have arrested more than 20 gang members this year and their modus operandi remains the same. They change the location at the last minute and asked victims to reach Nuh. In the last two months they have become very active in snatching ATM cards, cars and valuables from commuters after intercepting their vehicles. They offer lift to people at night, assault and rob them. They also force them to share their ATM pins,” the Nuh SP said.
The victims who have been duped by these gangs said the police are aware of these gangs but have done very little to check their activity.
Ramashish Mandal, a resident of Darbhanga in Bihar, who was duped of ₹10 lakh on the pretext of buying gold bars on December 2, 2018, said despite the modus operandi remaining the same, the police have done little to curb such crimes. “I have met more than 20 victims who were duped on the same stretch as I was, but I was shocked to know that the police is well aware of these spots but still does nothing,” he said.
Another victim Karan Kumar of Mumbai, who was duped on October 23, 2018, said there is no police patrolling on these stretches. “It was very difficult to contact the police,” he said. Sources added that many roadside shopkeepers are also involved and are repeat offenders, but the police have kept no record of them or their activities.
SP Kalia refuted the allegations saying that they have deployed teams in plain clothes and had started a campaign to spread awareness about such schemes.
“We have arrested some key members of these gangs this year, but unfortunately these gangs have a large number of members. Even if three members are arrested, the gang’s operation remains unaffected,” she said.