NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has busted two organised crime syndicates operating in the capital with the arrest of five people in two separate cases, an officer said.
One of the syndicates, led by Jeeshan Ali, facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during no-entry restrictions by selling stickers or ‘Marka’ for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle per month, the officer said.
The other syndicate, headed by Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, extorted money from transporters and blackmailed traffic police personnel by recording their videos while they were issuing challans or performing other official duties.
Police said he targeted government officials and others by threatening to circulate fabricated videos showing them allegedly accepting money.
In the first case, a traffic policeman lodged a complaint after a commercial light goods vehicle attempted to evade checking and produced a “03 March” sticker, claiming exemption from challans.
“Evidence recovered from WhatsApp groups of the driver revealed an organised crime syndicate running a parallel system and cheating drivers and vehicle owners. The gang was also extorting traffic police staff by recording them during enforcement and later editing the videos,” DCP (Crime Branch) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.
During the investigation, it was found that Rajkumar and Jeeshan Ali were operating two different syndicates. Section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Organised Crime Syndicate) was invoked, police said.
A case under Section 3/4 of the MCOCA was registered against Rajkumar’s syndicate after approval under Section 23(1)(a). The gang had been involved in continued unlawful activities of extortion, coercion and intimidation in a systematic manner, the DCP added.
Rajkumar was identified as the mastermind of a long-standing syndicate operating since 2015. He fabricated videos of police personnel, threatened them with departmental action, extorted money, recruited members and carried out unlawful activities for financial gain. Police arrested both masterminds—Rajkumar and Jeeshan Ali—along with three associates linked to Ali’s network. Rajkumar, previously involved in seven cases of extortion, dacoity and causing hurt, targeted traffic police personnel by threatening to publicise doctored videos.
Ali manufactured and distributed over 2,000 stickers monthly and operated multiple WhatsApp groups. His associates—Chandan Chaudhary, Dilip Kumar and Dina Nath Chaudhary alias Raj Kumar, sold 150 to 200 stickers to commercial vehicle drivers each month.