The Crime Branch of Delhi Police has arrested a gangster, a former State-level weightlifting champion, who was allegedly involved in several cases of murder, including that of a retired police officer of Haryana. The 25-year-old accused, identified as Anil Pehalwan, was inspired by the Mumbai underworld. He was a weightlifter before he figured in the list of “most wanted gangsters of the Capital”.
Anil, who hails from Haryana’s Jhajjar region, was arrested after the Crime Branch received a tip-off about his location.
“On the night of October 17, the accused was spotted in a white Scorpio. When he was signalled to stop, he tried to escape. Soon, he was intercepted at Radha Swami Road in Dwarka and he whipped out a pistol and fired two rounds at the police team before being successfully apprehended,” said Joint Commissioner of Police Crime, Ravindra Yadav.
Yadav added that Anil was a former student of Motilal Nehru College of Delhi University but could not complete his graduation. He had also opened a gym in Nangal Dewat village in partnership with his cousin.
Anil was wanted in 10 cases of murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion. Some of the sensational crimes in which he had been allegedly involved lately include — kidnapping of a student along with his Chevrolet Cruze car, abduction of a lecturer of PDM University in Bahadurgarh and the son of a cloth merchant in Prashant Vihar. In all the three cases Anil was able to extract a sum of over Rs1.5 crore from his three victims.
Among the persons he allegedly murdered were Devender Dalal, headman of Tanda Heri village, Bahadurgarh, Haryana. later, Anil also murdered his cousin’s former wife who had separated following an extra marital affair.
However, one of the most sensational crimes executed by his gang was the murder of a retired police inspector of Haryana. “The team led by the slain officer had killed one of their associates in an encounter. Anil waited till the time the officer retired and at the first available opportunity, he along with his gang members killed the officer,” Yadav added.
After this crime, his various gang members were arrested by the Delhi Police and the Haryana Police but he continued to evade them and became one of the most wanted criminals of the NCR.He resurfaced in Delhi and threatened a Mangolpuri businessman and demanded Rs50 lakh as protection money.