Delhi Crime Branch officers pose as Mumbai-based model on Instagram to trap, arrest gangster

During the strategic operation to nab the gangster, the Delhi Crime Branch team created a fake Instagram profile, posing as a Mumbai-based model to trap the fugitive gangster Manoj alias Arun, who has a long history of heinous crimes

The accused is wanted by police of the national capital, Haryana and Rajasthan in several heinous cases of murders and robbery.

The Delhi Police said that Manoj has been a member of Jitender alias Gagi Gang and is a close associate of notorious gangster Deepak alias Tittar who is presently lodged in several cases including MCOCA and the murder of rival gangster Tillu Tajpuria in Tihar Jail premises.

As per Delhi Police, the accused Manoj was active on Instagram and continued chatting with him over several weeks as a Mumbai-based model and finally managed to lure him to the Safdarjung Enclave area of South Delhi for a rendezvous.

The Crime Branch team laid a trap near the expected place of his arrival and the accused Manoj was successfully apprehended.

Upon a search, two sophisticated .32 bore pistols and 8 live cartridges were seized from his possession. Accordingly, a case under Arms Act was also registered and the accused was arrested in the case.

As per Delhi Police, the accused, Manoj Kumar alias Arjun hailed from District Mahender Garh, in Haryana. In the 1990s, his family shifted to Delhi and started residing in the Nangloi area.

After completing his school education, he started his own business in Nangloi with his friend Chamanlal, who had an old enmity with one Rahul. In 2005, they abducted Rahul and killed him for not paying ransom. In this case, he was convicted and awarded life imprisonment by the trial court in 2013.

While in Tihar Jail, he came in contact with Vicky Ramzanpur, an active member of the notorious Gogi gang, and they became close friends.

Another gangster, Deepak Dabas alias Tittar, also used to visit them in jail and was pursuing the cases of the Gogi gang.

In 2014, Manoj came out of jail on a one-month parole but did not surrender and absconded. He then joined the Gogi gang through Deepak alias Tittar.

Thereafter, he and his associates killed a person in the Shahbad Dairy area and committed multiple carjackings in Narela, Begumpur, and Alipur. The robbed cars were used by the gangsters for extortion in Bawana, Narela, and other outskirts of Delhi.

In December 2015, he was again arrested along with his associates and lodged in jail. In June 2023, he was released on a three-week parole but absconded again.

After his parole, he committed multiple robberies (carjackings) in Pali, Rajasthan, and was caught by the Rajasthan Police. He remained in Bilada Jail until December 2024 but deceived the jail authorities about his previous criminal history. (ANI)