‘20 men spent 3 months planning GK-1 murder’ | Latest News Delhi

The brazen shooting of a gym owner in Greater Kailash-1 last week followed a three-month-long elaborate conspiracy involving at least 20 people from multiple gangs and was led by jailed criminals Lawrence Bishnoi and Hashim Baba who closely monitored every aspect of the killing, police officers aware of the case said.

These 20 people, who include those hiding abroad from criminal cases, were tasked with conducting reconnaissance of the victim, Nadir Shah, and his movements, arranging logistics, and opening fire at him, the officers said.

While the exact motive behind the murder is being probed, investigators are looking into multiple angles, which include his links to gangsters and cops, and the possibility that was interfering in extortion deals of the Bishnoi gang.

Besides, the conspiracy to gun down 35-year-old Shah was hatched by adopting a different strategy – people were roped in from different states and assigned to various teams to carry out specific tasks of spotting, surveillance, and attacking the victim. The plan was discussed through encrypted social media platforms, while maintaining complete anonymity of people in each team, officers said.

While police have gathered the above information since the killing that took place last week on Thursday, and arrested and interrogated seven people so far, they are yet to arrest the main shooters and ascertain the exact motive behind the murder.

At least two officers aware of the case said that the city police also received unconfirmed information that the Hashim Baba gang had planned to carry out deadly attacks on three of their rival gang members with the help of some members of the Bishnoi gang. However, police could not confirm the names of the possible targets.

“The reason behind it was the fact that unlike the previous attacks on their rivals, this time the Bishnoi and Hashim gangs chose a different strategy, which included roping in various teams of spotters, surveyors, and attackers belonging to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The gang leaders were using secure mediums such as encrypted social media platforms to discuss their plans. Also, they were maintaining anonymity among each module – meaning the first person did not know who the second person in the network was and what role each of them were playing,” said one of the officers, asking not to be named.

While seven people, who conducted reconnaissance and helped the two main shooters in reaching and fleeing the shooting spot last Thursday night, were arrested till Sunday, the two main shooters, identified by their first names Madhur and Raju, could not be caught till Wednesday.

Madhur and Raju belong to the Hashim Baba gang and their background check revealed that they were not previously involved in any heinous crimes, said a senior special cell officer, who asked not to be named.

“Madhur and Raju are residents of Jafarabad in northeast Delhi. Through people known to them, it has been learnt that the two had recently joined the Hashim Baba gang, and killing Shah was their first big assignment that they had got directly from Hashim Baba, who is currently lodged in Mandoli jail. We have also learnt that the two agreed to execute the killing because they wanted to be in the close circle of the gangster and get themselves noticed in the city’s crime world,” added the officer.

At around 10.40pm on Thursday last week, Shah, who ran businesses in Delhi and Dubai, was standing outside his gym – Sharx Gym in E Block, GK-1 – with his friend, when a man walked at him and fired at point blank range. CCTV footage of the incident, accessed by HT, showed the assailant firing eight to 10 rounds at Shah.

Although the exact motive behind Shah’s murder is still not clear, police are probing multiple angles, including his alleged links with gangsters as well as police officers, his illegal activities, and unverified information that he had been interfering in the extortion deals initiated by the Bishnoi gang and members of his associated gangs.

“The role of at least two white-collar criminals, who were involved in multiple crimes but also got police protection on the orders of different Delhi courts – are also being probed in Shah’s murder case. One of them is currently in Dubai. He had received ₹40 crore extortion demand from the Bishnoi gang, but the deal did not materialise because Shah had allegedly interfered in it and took money and a luxury car from that person in lieu of resolving his problem with the gang. We are verifying the allegations,” said another officer from the special cell, associated with the probe.

The seven people arrested so far in the case were identified as Naveen Baliyan, 33, of Sonipat; Akash Yadav, 24, Pankaj Kumar,18, and Sachin Yadav, 19, — all three from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, and three others from the same state — Nitalesh Tiwari, 20 of Kaptanganj, and Vishal Varma, 19, of Sultanpur Verehata — in connection with the murder.

Although the exact motive behind Shah’s murder is still not clear, the police are probing multiple angles, including his alleged links with gangsters as well as police officers, his illegal activities, and unverified information that he had been interfering in the extortion deals initiated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gangs and members of his associated gangs.