New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) In a major success for Delhi Police Crime Branch, two notorious members of the Goldy Brar-Lipin Nehra gang were apprehended on Tuesday, and a sizeable number of firearms were recovered from their possession.

The recovery included six sophisticated firearms, eight live cartridges and two single-shot pistols. The accused were identified as Randeep alias Rinku (36 years) and Hitesh Kumar (23 years), both residents of Jhajjar and Rewari (Haryana), respectively.

They were nabbed in a joint operation of the Anti-gangster squad, Delhi Police and Crime Branch. Their Toyota Hilux car was also seized.

The two accused are believed to be “key links” in the supply of illegal arms and the delivery of extortion proceeds to the gang members, at the instructions of Lipin Nehra. They were also involved in multiple extortion-related firing cases in Haryana.

The police team is interrogating the accused to ascertain the original source of the recovered firearms and to identify and locate other members of the gang.

According to police, one of the above accused threatened a Haryana-based businessman with an extortion amount of Rs 1 crore. Acting at the behest of Lipin Nehra, he, along with accomplices, issued threats to the businessman last year.

Police, during their investigation, found that Lipin Nehra, operating from Canada, was directing his associates in India through the encrypted signal application to collect a consignment of illegal arms and ammunition.

Hitesh and Randeep Rathi were specifically deputed by the syndicate to collect consignment of arms.

As the cases of organised crime, extortion and illegal use of firearms saw surge in the NCR region, the Anti-Gangster Squad (AGS) of the Crime Branch was roped in and tasked with mounting surveillance and identifying such criminals operating across Delhi and adjoining states.

The team gathered credible intelligence regarding the whereabouts, activities, associates, hideouts, and criminal network of gang members, and to take appropriate legal action against them. The team also developed human intelligence (HUMINT) through secret informers and maintained round-the-clock surveillance.

Acting upon specific secret information, a trap was laid at UER-II near Tajpur, Dwarka, Delhi. During surveillance, the accused persons were intercepted while travelling in a Toyota Hilux vehicle. They attempted to flee the spot but were overpowered and apprehended by the raiding team.

The police are also looking closely at the modus operandi of the gang on how the consignment of illegal arms was smuggled for deployment in gang warfare and how the chain operated to threaten and extort the businessmen.

–IANS

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