NOTORIOUS ‘SPECIAL 26’ GANG BUSTED

A HISTORY SHEETERS’ WITH ROOTS IN AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT UNEARTHED

ON RUN SINCE 2013; TOTAL 24 CASES OF CHEATING BY HYPNOTIC SPELL AND

CHEATING BY IMPERSONATING AS CBI OFFICERS WORKED OUT

The AATS of South District has arrested the following five accused, members of notorious Surender @ Sonu gang of cheats cum imposters:

1. Surrender Kumar @ Sonu, aged 40 yrs, s/o Prem Nath, r/o B3/103, JJ Colony, Raghubir Nagar, PS Khayala, Delhi
2. Ramesh @ Dabri, aged 30 yrs, s/o Seva Ram @ Shiva Ram, r/o Tanki Wali Jhuggi, Near Ghodawala Mandir, Raghubir Nagar, PS Khayala, New Delhi
3. Arjun @ Ajay, aged 33 yrs, s/o Ram Lal Bavaria, r/o Jhuggi No 58, Tanki Wali  Jhuggi, Near Ghodawala Mandir, Raghubir Nagar, PS Khayala, New Delhi
4. Ashok @ Billa, aged 22 yrs, s/o Mohan Lal, r/o Jhuggi Tanki wali, Near Ghodawala Mandir, Raghubir Nagar, PS Khayala, New Delhi
5. Rattan Solanki, aged 27 yrs, s/o Nahar Singh, r/o Jhuggi Tanki wali, Near Ghodawala Mandir, Raghubir Nagar, PS Khayala, New Delhi

The gang members have been involved in more than 100 cases registered in different areas of Delhi NCR and are master cheats with exceptional skills in adaptation and practicing fake hypnotism. Their primary targets have been women belonging to various age groups and social standings. Some of the revealed and well known modus operandi excelled by this gang are:

1. Baiting a female victim with the lure of fake currency notes and obtaining their jewelry in lieu,
2. Baiting a female victim by posing a goldsmiths and metallurgists specializing in polishing old ornaments and making away with the jewelry on the pretext of cleaning and polishing,
3. By posing as CBI officials and on the pretext ensuring her safety in a make-believe crime prone area, deceiving her into parting with ornaments borne on body etc.

Brief Facts:

Over the past one year, several crimes of cheating under hypnotic spell and by impersonation as Law Enforcement Officials were reported in various Districts of Delhi. In one such case reported in PS Sarojini Nagar, South District, on 13/01/2017, one Ms Laxmi Devi, had reported that she had been duped by a male who had approached her on the pretext of asking the route/way to Ghaziabad and soon, he along with his other associates, had hypnotized her into parting with Rs. 5,000/- cash and a gold ring she was wearing. In subsequent detailed examination, the victim narrated that the accused had posed themselves as officers from CBI and had presented the spot of occurrence i.e. Sarojini Naghar market, as being infested by the crime of violent robbery, and had convinced her into taking off her ornament to keep the same safely towed in a handkerchief. Soon, the mystique of the coordinated spell had overawed her senses and when she regained herself, the cash and the gold ring was missing, along with the accused that had approached her.

Keeping in the view rise of crimes of similar nature being reported at in South District, the instant case was transferred to AATS/South District. A special team consisting of SI Babu Lal, ASI Naim Ahmed, ASI Arvind, ASI Rajbir, HC Praveen, Ct Manoj, Ct Ajit, Ct Nemi Chand & Ct Pawan, under the leadership of Inspector Richhpal Singh, I/c AATS and supervision of Sh Palvinder Singh Chahal, ACP, Operations/ South District was constituted with the specific task of locating, identifying and apprehending these cheats. Sources were deployed and the team analyzed all similar cases reported over the last 2/3 years to obtain actionable clues.

A thorough study of the un-worked-out cases revealed the broad contours of a specific gang which was last in notice in 2013 i.e. almost over three years ago. Meticulous efforts were undertaken to infiltrate the ranks of the known associates of this gang and the efforts eventually yielded result when on 10/03/2017, a tip off about the culprits was received from a secret informer. On the basis of this information, the team laid a trap near Moti Lal Nehru College and at in early afternoon hours, flagged down a white Hyundai Santro car bearing registration No DL-8CN-2025 with five persons seated inside. The details of the occupants of the car were revealed as (1) Surender Kumar aka Sonu, (2) Ramesh aka Dabadi, (3) Arjun aka Ajay, (4) Ashok aka Billa and (5) Rattan Solanki. The suspects were subjected to preliminary interrogation upon the spot and being confronted with the evidence collected during the operation, they disclosed their involvement in the Sarojini Nagar Case. Accordingly, being satisfied, the accused were arrested after following due codal formalities.

On sustained interrogation, the accused persons revealed the various modus operandi they had perfected over the long periods of their criminal lives and gave an insight into their functioning as a cohesive criminal syndicate. The arrested criminals belong to Bawaria Tribe, long infamous for committing gruesome and violent crimes but have, over the years, graduated to the soft skilled crime of cheating which yields higher results with minimal physical violence.  

Revealed MOs:

The arrested accused revealed that the most commonly used MO to trap gullible homemaker women was to follow her in a market etc. and once assured that they were in exclusive vicinity of the potential victim, one member of the gang approached the victim and casually engaged her in eliciting information about the nearby areas and routes. Soon, gaining access, the first member expressed financial miseries being suffered on account of non-payment of his salary by his employer. At this junction, the second gang member would appear on the scene. He will be carrying a parcel and ask for an address. Upon being asked by the first gang member, showing complete ignorance about his association with this new entrant to the discussion, as to why was the second member asking for a particular address, the second member would state that he has been given a parcel by his employer which is to be delivered at the said address. The second member would then show the parcel, acting as a person of very low IQ, to the first gang member, while the victim remains a spectator to the happenings. The first member discreetly has a sneak-peek into the parcel which shows some currency notes in it. This would arouse the curiosity of the victim too. At this stage, the second member would ask for some money as travel expenses as the address which he had asked the way for is at quite some distance. Under the spell of conversation, the first member would now lure the victim by telling her that the second member appears to be a person of low intelligence and is sure to be cheated away by someone if he keeps travelling with the amount of money up to the place where he has been asked to go and deliver the parcel and, the time is ripe to con him i.e. the second member and do away with the money parcel which they i.e. the victim and the first con-man can later share. Under the spell, the victim hands over her ring or other jewellery to the second conman as if she wants to help him while the first conman convinces his associate and the second conman that he is going towards the area where the second conman was supposed to go and that he will deliver the parcel to the intended addressee. Upon receiving the parcel, as a gesture of trust, the first conman hands it over to the victim. Soon, both the conmen vanish from the scene, leaving behind the bewildered victim who realizes that she has lost her jewellery in return for a parcel which contains nothing but a couple of currency notes kept as the top and bottom covers over a pile of trash paper.

The second MO, wherein the gang members posed themselves as CBI officials, is even more intriguing. In this scene, once the intended victim has been spotted, the first gang member would approach her casually as if he is looking for something at the very place where the female victim is located. He would then pose as a CBI officer by showing an Identity Card and tell the victim that he is there investigating some serious case. He would then proceed to scare the victim by telling her that the place where they have accidentally met is infamous for heinous crimes like robbery at knife point and that she is advised to take off all the jewellery worn on her person and offers a handkerchief to tie up all the stuff that the gullible victim is wearing on her person. At this juncture, a second gang member keeps watching the proceedings from some distance and makes a mental note of the articles which the victim has taken off from her person and kept in the handkerchief. This second conman carries artificial bangles, rings, necklaces’ etc. and from his observations, makes a bundle of similar articles in a similar handkerchief as was offered by the first conman to the victim. Soon, the second conman also joins in as a CBI colleague of the first conman and seeing an opportunity, the first handkerchief ‘potli’ is replaced by the second one. Both the conmen vanish from the scene leaving the victim behind who later, when she reaches her home and opens her handkerchief ‘potli’, only to find out that she has been conned.      

  

Profile of Arrested Accused:

1. Surender Kumar aka Sonu: is the kingpin of the gang and is a Class 9th dropout. After school, he started playing TSR auto and during this stint, developed friendship with some criminals from his native State of Gujarat who were expert tricksters. He quickly excelled at the trade and became a master cheat. He is previously involved in 10 criminal cases and is a listed Bad Character of PS Khayala.
2. Ramesh aka Dabadi: is illiterate and a childhood friend of the kingpin. He has been previously arrested FIR No 226/14, u/s 420/411/34 IPC, PS Mandir Marg, Delhi and is an active member of the gang for the last 3 years.  
3. Arjun aka Ajay: is a Class 3rd dropout. He was a contractual labour before entering the crime world. He is an active member of the gang and plays the role of unfortunate employee in order to trap the victim. He is also an expert in handling the role of the low IQ second conman as described above and has been associated with the gang for over 2 years. He has been previously arrested in  a case of Arms Act.  
4. Ashok aka Billa: is illiterate. He is a childhood friend of the kingpin. He is also an expert in handling the role of the low IQ second conman as described above. He is an active member of the gang for over 4 years.   

5. Rattan Solanki: is illiterate and has joined the gang about 8 months ago.

 

Recoveries:

1. Seven Mobile phones vides E-FIR No 092/2017 dated 23/01/2017 u/s 379 IPC PS Kotla Mubarak Pur, Delhi.
2. One gold ring recovered vides FIR No. 13/2017 Dated 13/01/2017 U/s 420/34 IPC PS Sarojini Nagar Delhi.
3. One Santro car No DL-8CN- 2025 owned by accused Ramesh@ Dabadi; purchased from the proceeds of the crimes.  
4. Two fake Id Cards of CBI officers, one recovered from accused Surender @ Sonu (in the name of fictitious CBI officer S K Singh) and other from accused Ramesh (in the fictitious name of CBI officer R. K Verma).
5. Two currency bundles with top and bottom of genuine currency and the rest being similar sized trash papers.
6. Six jewelry bangles.
7. Two jewelry earrings.

Cases worked out:

Sl. No.	FIR NO.	U/S	PLACE OF OCCURANCE	PS
1.	54/2016 Dated 04.02.16	420/34 IPC	In front of Gurudwara Moti Bagh ND	South Campus
2.	260/16 Dated 12.03.16	328/420/34 IPC	In front of OPD AIIMS , ND	Hauz Khas
3.	149/16 Dated 16.03.16	420/379/34 IPC	H Block Nanakpura, ND	South Campus
4.	217/16 Dated 16.05.16	420/379/34 IPC	In Nanakpura Gurudwara Moti Bagh ND	South Campus
5.	13/2017 Dated 13.01.17	420/34 IPC	Near Mahindra Sweets , Sarojni Nagar Market, ND	Sarojni Nagar
6.	15/17 Dated 17.01.17	328/379 IPC	Road In front of H. No. 995and 955, DG  Block , Sarojni Nagar ND	Sarojni Nagar
7.	148/16 Dated 10.02.16	420/34 IPC	Gali Near Arya Samaj Mandir , Green Park , New Delhi	Safdarjung Enclave
8.	320/16 Dated 20.06.16	420/34 IPC	Sec.-6 , R.K Puram , ND	R.K. Puram
9.	333/16 Dated 12.07.16	420/34 IPC	Sec .5 , R.K .Puram	R.K. Puram
10.	333/16 Dated 20.04.16	420/34 IPC	B.P Marg , Red Light , Andrews Ganj , Flyover	K.M. Pur
11.	482/16 Dated 17.07.16	420/34 IPC	From B.P Marg , P.T. Collage to Kotla Mubarak Pur , Bus Stand B.P Marg	K.M. Pur
12.	436/16 Dated 02.06.16	420/34 IPC	B.P  Marg to  Gurudwara Road , Near Jain Sweets K.M. Pur	K.M. Pur
13.	586/16 Dated 15.09.16	420/34  IPC	In Front of Jachha Road, S.J. Enclave  ND	Safdarjung Enclave
14.	32/17 Dated 23.0117	420 IPC	Bank of India, Near B-Block	Kalkaji
15.	76/17 Dated 01.03.17	420/34 IPC	Near Channa market Chembry in front of Kanishka Hotel, Karol Bagh Delhi	Karol Bagh
16.	566/16 Dated 30.09.16	420/34 IPC	Near B-Block , Mother Diary DDA flats Kalkaji ND	Kalkaji
17.	686/16 Dated 06.12.16 Date of incident 03.12.16	420 IPC	Mall Road Govindpuri Extn. Kalkaji	Kalkaji
18.	580/16 Dated 31.05.16	420/34 IPC	Rama market wali Gali near ,Slice of Italy , Munirka Village ND	Vasant Vihar
19.	826/16 Dated 16.08.16 Date of incident 13.08.16	420/34 IPC	Near Anupam restaurant Munirka ND	Vasant Vihar
20.	1038/16 Dated 13.12.16	420/34 IPC	Munirka ND	Vasant Vihar
21.	477/16 Dated 12.07.16	420/34 IPC	22/2 , South EX.PART -1 K.M. Pur ND	K.M. Pur
22.	e-FIR 000092	379 IPC	INA Market & Residence	K.M. Pur
23	41/2016 dated 30/01/2016	420/34 IPC	Near Satya Niketan Market	South Campus
24	224/2016 dated 26/05/2016	420/34 IPC	Moti Bagh New Delhi	South Campus

Previous Involvements of Arrested Accused:

1. Surrender Kumar aka Sonu:

Sl. No.	FIR No. & Year	Under Section	Police Station
1	80/2012	25/54/59 A ACT	MOTI NAGAR
2	31/2012	379/411/34 IPC	MOTI NAGAR
3	188/2012	379 IPC	PASCHIM VIHAR
4	76/2010	420/379/34 IPC	HAUZ KHAS
5	80/2012	379 IPC	KHYALA
6	204/2012	379 IPC	HARI NAGAR
7	37/2013	379 IPC	KHYALA
8	108/2013	380 IPC	SAGAR PUR
9	148/2013	420/34 IPC	SAGAR PUR
10	197/2013	328/379/34 IPC	SAGAR PUR

2. Ramesh aka Dabadi:

Sl. No.	FIR No & Year	U/s	Police Station
1	226/2014	420/411/34 IPC	Mandir Marg

3. Arjun aka Ajay:

Sl. No.	FIR No & Year	U/s	Police Station
1	675/2005	25/54/59 Arms Act	Sultanpuri

Efforts are underway to identify and apprehend remaining members of this gang. Many more cases are expected to be worked out. Concerned Police Stations are being informed.