|
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has apprehended a 22-year-old alleged shooter linked to the Delhi Police-monitored Kaushal Chaudhary Gang and foiled a purported plot to murder a businessman in North Delhi's Burari area, officials said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Kuldeep Singh, a resident of SSN Park, Bhalswa Dairy, was arrested by the Anti-Gangster Squad (AGS) of the Crime Branch on February 7 in Dwarka following specific intelligence inputs. According to Delhi Police, Singh was allegedly acting on instructions from foreign-based gangsters Pawan Shokeen and Gurdeep, who had activated their associate to execute a planned murder in the national capital. The target was a Burari-based businessman, and the killing was allegedly aimed at establishing the gang's supremacy and expanding its organised extortion network. During a trap laid near Nursery Road, close to the Sector-17 under-construction market in Dwarka, Singh was intercepted while riding a scooty. Police said he attempted to flee but was overpowered by the raiding team. "A PX-30 automatic pistol and a 7.65 mm pistol in loaded condition, along with five live cartridges, were recovered from his possession," Delhi Police said. A case under FIR No. 23/2026, dated February 7, 2026, under Section 25 of the Arms Act, has been registered at the Crime Branch Police Station. The scooty used by the accused was found to be stolen in FIR No. 584/25 under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at PS Murad Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. Police said Singh was earlier involved in a sensational 5 crore extortion-cum-firing case in Punjab in 2024 and had been released on bail in August 2025. He was also allegedly involved in multiple criminal cases in Delhi and Punjab, including cases registered at PS Bhalswa Dairy, PS Swaroop Nagar, and PS Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district. During interrogation, Singh disclosed that he dropped out of his B.A. second year after his father was murdered in 2019 over a property dispute. He allegedly came into contact with gang associate Pradeep alias Bantu, who introduced him to Pawan Shokeen. On Shokeen's directions, Singh and his associates allegedly opened fire in Punjab in February 2024. He also allegedly carried a pistol and fired shots in the jurisdiction of PS Bhalswa Dairy in April 2024, leading to his arrest in FIR No. 327/24. Police further said that on instructions of Gurdeep alias Paa Ji, a syndicate member of the Kaushal Chaudhary Gang, Singh and his accomplices fired at Chawla Cloth House in Hoshiarpur in February 2024 and demanded 5 crore as ransom. He was arrested by the Punjab Police in that case and later came in contact with Shokeen while lodged in jail. "During sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that the recovered automatic weapons were supplied at the direction of Gurmeet @ Paa Ji (Portugal) and Pawan Shokeen through their associates. He was in regular contact with them via encrypted applications and had collected the weapons from Ambala, Haryana," police said. Singh also allegedly supplied part of the consignment to a contact in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and had conducted reconnaissance for the planned murder in Burari while coordinating with gang members from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The Crime Branch said it has intensified operations amid a rise in organised crime, extortion, and illegal use of firearms in the capital. Further investigation into the case is still underway. (ANI)
|
