Henchman of gangster Manjeet Mahal held with girlfriend in Uttam Nagar

Those arrested were involved in the killings of Vikrant in Gurgaon, Dinesh alias Mangu at Najafgarh and Naresh at Bahadurgarh in Haryana.

Police special cell has arrested a key henchman of jailed gangster Manjeet Mahal and his four partners, including his girlfriend, after a brief spell of shooting in west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, police said on Monday.

Two sophisticated semi-automatic pistols, two country-made pistols and 33 cartridges were recovered from those arrested Vikas Dalal, 27, his girlfriend Tikmu alias Reena, 23, Gaurav aka Lucky, 23, Hemant, 22, and Kaptan alias Cheetah, 22. A robbed Hyundai Creta SUV was also seized from them. Police said, Dalal used his girlfriend to honey-trap rivals and kill them.

Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said the five were involved in at least 11 cases, including seven murders, three attempt to murders and carjackings, in the past four months.

According to Yadav, after the murder of Mahal’s father Shri Krishan in January, Mahal’s gang members went on a revenge killing spree during which they murdered several members of the Nandu gang.

“Those arrested were involved in the killings of Vikrant in Gurgaon, Dinesh alias Mangu at Najafgarh and Naresh at Bahadurgarh in Haryana,” said Yadav, adding that the police had formed a team to nab the accused.

On Saturday, the team received information that Dalal and his aides would come to Uttam Nagar to commit a crime. Based on the tip-off, a trap was laid at Vipin Garden in Uttam Nagar.

“As the suspects arrived in a Creta SUV, the raiding party blocked their vehicle and asked them to surrender. Four men got off the car and fled in different directions, leaving the woman in the car. When the police began chasing them. The four were overpowered after a scuffle,” added the DCP.

Interrogation of Dalal revealed that he belonged to Jhajjar in Haryana. In 2005, he left his village because of a dispute his family had with some villagers and settled in Najafgarh. As he wanted to take revenge from his villagers, he entered the crime world and began committing robberies and other petty crimes. He was arrested in 2009 and remained in Bhondsi jail where he befriended Manjeet Mahal.

After his release in 2011, Dalal entered into real estate business with one Varun Jangra, an associate of gangster Krishan Pehalwan of Najafgarh. However, their partnership broke because of money dispute. Varun had insulted Dalal’s father because of that he committed suicide. Dalal killed Varun in October 2014 to avenge his father’s death.

“Dalal was arrested in Varun’s murder case and put in jail where he befriended Pehalwan’s rival Udaiveer Kala. In March 2016, Dalal was released on four-day interim bail to attend his brother’s wedding. However, he jumped the bail, joined Mahal’s gang and began committing revenge killings on his behalf,” Yadav said.

During questioning, Tikmu told police that she met Dalal during a tour to Kullu in Himachal Pradesh in November 2016. Soon, she became his girlfriend and partner in crime. In March, Dalal used her to honey-trap his rival Rinkoo, who was subsequently killed, said police.