Dreaded gangster Kaushal’s associate held in Gurugram

A 37-year-old alleged aide of jailed gangster Kaushal was arrested from Sector 39 on Friday night, Gurugram police said on Saturday, adding that one pistol and six cartridges were recovered from his possession.

The suspect, identified as Sandeep alias Bandar, is a key associate of Kaushal, who is involved in over 200 cases and is currently lodged in Hisar jail, police said.

Police said Bandar was involved in at least a dozen cases of murder, attempt to murder, robbery and extortion.

The Kaushal gang is active in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Between 2017 and 2019, Kaushal was operating from Dubai and extorted businessmen, industrialists, bookies, property dealers and owners of hospitals. Bandar was managing the gang in India and carrying out criminal activities with the help of other members of the gang, police said.

Varun Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said Bandar was on the radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and they had declared a reward of ₹1 lakh for providing information leading to his arrest. “He was managing the gang and the entire illegal extortion operation of jailed gangster Kaushal for the last couple of years. He was produced before a city court on Saturday and was taken on a five-day police remand,” the ACP said.

As per investigators, Bandar was allegedly extorting money from traders in Khandsa vegetable market as well as from industrialists across the city. He was allegedly extorting over ₹50 lakh a month, they said.

According to police, Pankaj Kumar, in-charge of crime unit, Sector 39, received secret information on Friday night that Bandar, a resident of Naharpur Roopa, was about to leave on a Bajaj Pulsar bike from Sector 38 area. On the basis of information, a team led by him arrested the suspect after a brief chase. An FIR was registered against him under the Arms Act at Sadar police station.

ACP Dahiya said, “We were keeping a close tab on the criminal activities of the Kaushal gang and our teams promptly acted on the information. He was also involved in many criminal activities in the national Capital and nearby areas. He had joined the Kaushal gang in 2007 and was arrested many times before”.

ACP Dahiya further added that the suspect was under police radar for the murder of property dealer Jaidev alias JD. “He had come out of jail on bail in September 2021, and was committing crimes again for the Kaushal gang,” he said.

Police said they have informed the NIA regarding his arrest.

The NIA team had raided the hideouts of Bandar twice in October last year and once in April this year. During the raids, some documents and mobile phones were recovered. The NIA had declared a reward of ₹1 lakh for providing information leading to his arrest, police said.

The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) had demolished his three-story house in the Rajiv Colony area on April 9 that was built 10 years ago on 100 square yards of government land, police added.

Kala Ramachandran, Gurugram commissioner of police, said, “Our teams had activated their sources and received information regarding his presence in the city. They took prompt action and arrested him while he was on his way to Sector 39”.