United Kingdom-based gangster Kapil Sangwan, alias Nandu, has claimed responsibility for the killing of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Haryana unit chief Nafe Singh Rathee, who was shot dead near Bahadurgarh railway crossing in Jhajjar on Sunday.
Sangwan took to Instagram, to claim responsibility for gunning down Rathee, along with a party worker Jai Kisan. The post said that Rathee was killed due to his close friendship with Sangwan’s rival, gangster Manjeet Mahal. The post, which is being verified by Haryana Police, carried a picture of Rathee shaking hands with Mahal.
According to a Delhi Police officer, Sangwan and Mahal – both residents of Najafgarh – have been part of a feud since 2015 when Mahal and his men allegedly killed Sangwan’s brother-in-law Sunil alias ‘Doctor’.
On instructions from his elder brother Jyoti Prakash alias Baba, who is currently in Tihar jail, to take revenge, Sangwan formed a team of his associates and killed Nafe Singh alias ‘Mantri’, who was a close associate of Mahal, the officer said. Jyoti Prakash is the other half of the infamous Kapil-Jyoti Baba gang.
Jyoti Prakash is also facing over a dozen cases, including for murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and illegal arms, the officer said. He said both brothers have close associations with liquor barons in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
In 2017, Sangwan also gunned down Mahal’s father Shri Krishna in his house in Nazafgarh.
WHO IS KAPIL SANGWAN
A wanted gangster, 32-year-old Sangwan hails from Najafgarh in Delhi. He is wanted in 18 cases including MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and robbery and arms act in Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan, according to Sangwan’s dossier prepared by the Delhi Police.
According to a Hindustan Times report, he is closely associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The Delhi Police is probing his involvement in the murder of BJP’s Najafgarh Zila Kisan Morcha president Surendra Matiala, who was actively engaged in local politics. Sangwan, a dropout from a hotel management course at a reputed private university in Haryana’s Manesar, also has a reward of Rs 2 lakh for his arrest by the Delhi Police.
According to Sangwan’s dossier, his crime graph began with the first case of extortion registered against him in Delhi’s Chhawla area in September 2014. He was booked for an attempt to murder in Chhawla in November 2014 and in the same month, he was found to be involved in a robbery in Haryana’s Jind. Sangwan is also known to be short-tempered and trigger-happy, a police officer said. Between 2014 and 2016, he was allegedly involved in at least 12 crimes in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The officer said he was previously arrested by Rajasthan Police from Bhagrota in Jaipur on April 29, 2016, along with five of his associates – Sachin, Gulshan, Gajraj, Pankaj, and Paramjeet. He was booked in a case of MCOCA by the Delhi Police Special Cell in 2019, as per the dossier.
But in 2020, Sangwan managed to flee to the United Kingdom when he came out of jail on parole for a month, the officer. He procured a fake passport from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly and fled to Dubai via Thailand and then settled in the UK, he said.
Delhi Police Special Cell has also booked him in a case of cheating and forgery for procuring a fake passport and fleeing from the country, he said.
Another officer said after getting parole, Sangwan’s associates had arranged a grand welcome party in a farmhouse in Najafgarh, where the Delhi Police Crime Branch conducted the raid before his arrival. As per the dossier, members of his gang who work under Sangwan are Vipin alias Judu, Anil Sharma alias Podi, Vicky alias Khadu, Amit Dahiya, Prashant Gullia, Vasudev alias Vasu and Krishna Kumar alias Ankush.
The officer said Sangwan had gained notoriety by extorting money from businessmen in southwest Delhi. Currently, his group is mostly involved in extortion cases and contract killings, he said.
On Thursday, the two sons of the slain INLD leader allegedly received threat calls from an unknown number asking them not to speak to the media about the murder. A probe has been launched into the matter, police said.
The deceased leader’s nephew, Kapoor Singh Rathee, said that his uncle’s elder son Bhupinder, and younger son Jatinder had received 18 threat calls from an unknown number.
“The caller also sent us a picture of a weapon which he claimed that he will use to eliminate the family if we do not stop talking to the media,” Kapoor Singh Rathee said over the phone from Bahadurgarh. Bhupinder’s wife is a councillor while Jatinder is also a councillor in Bahadurgarh, Kapoor Singh Rathee said.
(With PTI inputs)