Gangs in Delhi now fight over same victims

An eerily familiar pattern of gang rivalry is now playing out in Delhi, where criminal networks are preying on each other’s victims—extorting money, demanding allegiance, and threatening dire consequences for non-compliance. On the radar are bookies, call centre operators, hawala agents, cable providers, property dealers, and builders, according to a source.

In recent months, at least a dozen cases have emerged where gangsters have cold-called victims demanding ‘protection money’—sometimes warning them to pay both rival groups or suffer the fallout.

In one instance, a complainant approached police after receiving threats from gangster Kala Jathedi’s men—just days after UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan contacted him.


Businessman Nadir Shah, who was shot dead in broad daylight last August in south Delhi’s GK I, was reportedly paying multiple gangs—and even some police personnel. Shah’s partner, Kunal Chhabra, who operates call centres from abroad, has also reportedly faced threats from several gangs and police officers.

According to investigators, gangsters tend to be territorial about their targets. Protection money is supposed to guarantee safety from rivals—but when victims are being ‘shared’ or fought over, it signals brewing turf wars.

The scenario is drawing comparisons to notorious mafia turf wars abroad. The Five Families of New York—the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Colombo clans—infamously battled over extortion rackets. In 1990s Chicago, The Outfit clashed with the Gangster Disciples for control over the city’s criminal enterprises. Philadelphia’s branch of La Cosa Nostra also saw bloody infighting in the early 1980s over control of extortion operations.

Delhi’s gangland scene has long been volatile. The deadly feud between the Gogi gang (led by Jitender Maan) and the Tillu gang (led by Sunil Maan) kept the business community on edge for nearly a decade. Now, with both leaders gone, more ruthless players have stepped in. The current extortion game is being run by groups led by Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar, Himanshu Bhau, Kapil Sangwan-Jyoti Baba, Neeraj Bawana, Deepak Boxer, Hashim Baba, Rashid Cablewala, Kaushal Chaudhary, and others.