A little over two years ago, Delhi’s underworld was a fractured landscape. More than a dozen major gangsters controlled distinct territories with what appeared to be a clear demarcation of their areas of operation. The primary businesses of these crime syndicates were extortion and land grab, laced with a ruthless pursuit of supremacy.
The criminal landscape, however, began to change in late 2021 and early 2022, with the meteoric rise of Lawrence Bishnoi — now a prime suspect in the brazen killing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddiqui in Mumbai last week. His arrival upended Delhi’s criminal dynamics, transforming the fragmented network into a bipolar power struggle between Bishnoi and an amalgamation of his chief rivals – Neeraj Bawana and Himanshu Bhau.
Police officers who have been tracking the evolution of Delhi underworld describe 2022 as the time when a significant shift in the power dynamics started taking place.
These fragmented gangs started a rapid consolidation under these major players – Bishnoi on one side, and Bawana and Bhau on the other – with most smaller groups either aligning with one of the sides or fading from prominence altogether.
In simple terms, Bishnoi and Bawana-Bhau gangs are facing off in nearly all areas across the city, with some exceptions like central Delhi and parts of south Delhi where gang activity is nearly nonexistent.
This consolidation, officers say, has sparked heightened tensions and led to a series of violent confrontations as each leader seeks to assert control over their expanding territory.
The gangs of Delhi before 2022
An officer who has served in Delhi Police’s special and crime branch for more than a decade, said that, before 2022, Bawana and his associate Naveen Bali were the main criminal names active in Delhi’s northwest, outer and outer north Delhi areas.
They consolidated their hold in the region after a series of encounters and gang wars, leaving their rivals considerably weakened and headless.
Their primary rival in the area, Neetu Dabodiya, was killed in an encounter in 2013. Then, a rivalry between two other major players – Jitender Gogi and Tillu Tajpuria – resulted in both their deaths in chilling murders within a span of two years. First, Gogi was shot dead inside Rohini court in 2021 by members of the Tillu gang. Then, Tajpuria was murdered inside Tihar in 2023 by Gogi’s men.
Meanwhile, in the city’s west, two gangsters – Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, and his rival Manjeet Mahal – were active. While Nandu is suspected to be in the UK, Mahal is lodged in Tihar jail 2016.
In the city’s eastern and northeastern parts, two gangs were influential – Hashim Baba and his rival Chhenu Pehelwan. They are both in jail since 2020 and 2015 respectively.
In south Delhi, the gangsters – though with comparatively less clout that those in other parts of the city – were jailed gangster Rohit Chaudhary and his associate Ravi Gangwal – who is out on bail, who were pitted against Prince Tewatia, who was stabbed to death inside jail allegedly by members of the Chaudhary gang.
The early days of Bishnoi and Bhau
For a criminal who now has international renown – Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) even alleged this week that the hitmen of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang murdered Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar – Bishnoi’s criminal dossier opened only three years ago.
The first incident in which his name came up was a case registered under sections of Arms Act reported in April 2021. In 2022, a case was lodged against Bishnoiby Delhi Police’s special cell on charges of assaulting an officer on duty, and another under the Arms Act. In April 2023, his name appeared in an extortion case reported in Sunlight Colony police station.
Bhau’s entry into crime was similarly nondescript.
With Bawana and his top associate Bali in jail, Bhau ended up becoming the de facto face of this gang.
After entering the world of crime in Haryana at the age of 17, one of the first cases in which Bhau’s name cropped up in Delhi was when three men walked into a businessman’s office in Ranhola in February 2023 and opened fire on three people – killing one of them, the businessman’s son. During the investigation, sleuths learnt that the attack happened over the failure of the businessman to pay extortion money to Bhau and his partner Sahil Ritoliya – both operating from the US.
Alliances and consolidation
With Bishnoi’s aggressive entry into Delhi’s crime world and Bhau taking over the activities of the Bawana gang, the gang dynamics in the city saw a quick transformation between late 2022 and mid-2024.
These two gangs — Bishnoi and Bhau-Bawana — became whirlpools in Delhi’s crime world, drawing in all other gangs in what investigators have described as “mergers”. Very quickly, nearly all key players in Delhi’s criminal scene were on one side or the other.
The leaders of the Gogi, Hashim Baba, Deepak Boxer, Nandu and Tewatia gangs have aligned with Bishnoi. They often send extortion threats to the victim using Bishnoi’s name tagged along with their own.
On the other hand, Chhenu Pehelwan, Tajpuria, Manjeet Mahal, and Rohit Chaudhary-Ravi Gangwal have joined hands with the Bawana-Bhau alliance.
Most of these “mergers” happen inside jails, where these high-profile criminals enjoying considerable sway among the inmates, said an inspector-rank officer.
“Most of the gang leaders are in jail and many of the gang members as well. Inside the jail premises, they connect with each other and form alliances verbally. They communicate to their members outside about the alliances and then work in accordance,” another investigator said.
An assistant sub-inspector, who has arrested several gang members and questioned them, said that incidents over the last two years, intelligence from the prisons, and interrogation of the gang members made it clear who was on which side.
The latest example was the murder of the 35-year-old gym owner Nadir Shah in Greater Kailash-1 last month. This is the case that made it evident to police that Hashim Baba has now aligned with Bishnoi. The two of them are suspected to have orchestrated the murder from inside jail.
“Around the time when Tillu Tajpuria was murdered in jail, we heard of the alliance between his gang and Bawana’s. Recently, we also got to know that Rohit Chaudhary and Ravi Gangwal gangs have aligned with the Bawana-Bhau gang and are operating in south Delhi using their names,” the officer said.
The circle of influence
According to the ACP cited above who is deployed in the police’s crime branch and special cell, they came to know through local intelligence that most “letters” given by the gang members for extorting businessmen are in the name of Bishnoi or Bhau, with some others mentioned alongside. “Their name is mentioned first because they have now become household names though both entered the Delhi crime scene only in 2022,” the officer said.
The police inspector cited above said that the reason why they have formed the alliances is for “greater reach”.
Over the last few months, Delhi has witnessed multiple cases of firings outside shops of businessmen in west, Dwarka, and outer Delhi – primarily orchestrated by Bishnoi or Bhau, according to investigators.
“The incidents appear to have increased in the last few months because despite the arrests, there is no violent action being taken for dismantling the gang. When Delhi Police killed three members of Bhau gang in Haryana in July, there was no activity by the gang for nearly a month, but the gang became active again because more and more people – especially minors from Haryana and Punjab – are joining them and are tasked to commit firing,” one of the inspectors cited above said.
IPS Amit Goel, who has headed a team of crime branch for over two years and recently joined Rohini district as DCP said, “The gangs were reported to have merged in two larger umbrellas for their convenience and need of arms, manpower and other logistic support. This also helped them claim larger area of operation across states. However, there have been some reports of ego tussle among the individual gang leaders on who is bigger and also, some linkages have been noticed between the gangs cutting across rivalries. It is more of a contractual relationship on who is beneficial for whom at that point of time”.
These alliances, three of the officers mentioned above said, are here to stay till a drastic change takes place.
“Alliances between gangs have happened before and they have fallen apart as well,”a deputy commissioner of police who did not wish to be identified said. “This type of merger – Delhi seeing two clear groups – has happened for the first time.”
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