You might have heard about wedding crashers, but those pale in comparison to this variation of unwanted guests: the infamous ‘Band, Baaja, Baarat’ gang is back. Gangmembers gate crash into usually high-profile wedding ceremonies in the city, not to eat free food but rather to steal valuables from unsuspecting guests. Recently this gang looted two lavish weddings in Delhi’s Alipur and Chhatarpur’s Maidan Garhi on November 12, and 17, respectively.
Located about 800 km from Delhi, a specialized gang of wedding looters recruit from two villages: Kadiya and Gulkhedi in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh where families send their young members to the gang on ‘rent’. They are then trained to loot valuables from wedding parties without being noticed. According to police, 50-year-old Raj Kumar alias Raju, who is the ‘gang coordinator’, manages his operations remotely, sitting in a taxi outside the wedding venue, directing his band of thieves.
“Known for the practice of ‘renting’ out families to criminal gangs, the residents of Kadiya and Gulkhedi villages often enter into agreements known as ‘Anubandh’, where families receive financial compensation for sending their families to participate in theft operations,” a senior police official said.
The gang gives a ‘crash course’ to the young people so they can lift bags and steal valuables from the big fat weddings. “They use young recruits, trained to blend in at wedding functions, and are used to carry out crimes without drawing any attention towards them. The practice is seen as a form of a social contract, where families from impoverished backgrounds are exploited by criminal elements for thefts at weddings, typically targeting the wealthy,” he added.
The officer also said that in previous instances, once an accused gets bail, they never turn up before the court for trial. “Thus, they have been declared proclaimed offenders throughout India,” he stated.
However, the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch finally busted the syndicate by arresting four members of the gang including Kumar, 30-year-old Mohit, 19-year-old Sumit, and 30-year-old Karan, near Ghitorni Metro Station, who were the primary perpetrators, executing the bag-lifting operations and stealing valuables from wedding guests. “After the thefts, Raj Kumar would distribute the stolen items among the gang members,” another officer added.
On the night of November 12, Sumit and Karan stole cash and valuables from two wedding ceremonies in Alipur, and on the night of November 17, they also stole a bag filled with cash and valuables from a wedding ceremony at a farmhouse in Maidan Garhi in Chhatarpur. “While they entered the ceremonies to commit the thefts, Raj Kumar and Mohit waited outside in a private taxi, keeping watch and giving them directions over mobile phones,” the officer said, adding that they recovered five mobile phones along with 13 SIM cards being used for fake identity.
