New Delhi, June 26: The Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Friday arrested gangster Shabir Ali alias Shabir Chaudhary, who led an organised crime syndicate operating across North-East Delhi and the Trans-Yamuna region. Police said the accused had been absconding since April 2025 in a case registered under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

According to a statement issued by the Special Cell on Friday, Shabir Ali was wanted in a 2025 MCOCA case being investigated by the Special Cell. Nine members of his organised crime syndicate have already been arrested in connection with the same case.

The arrest was made by a team of the Special Cell’s NDR unit led by Inspectors Alok Kumar Maurya and Nitu Kumar under the supervision of ACP Ashish Kumar.

Police said that, acting on intelligence gathered through credible human sources and technical surveillance, the team apprehended Shabir Ali from the Shambhu Border in Haryana on June 14 and subsequently brought him to Delhi for further legal proceedings.

During the operation, police recovered one XUV and a scooty from the accused.

According to the Special Cell, Shabir Ali alias Shabir Chaudhary heads the Shabir Chaudhary-Hashim Baba-Anwar Chacha organised crime syndicate. The gang is allegedly active in the Trans-Yamuna and North-East Delhi regions, including Seelampur, Bhajanpura, Maujpur, Shahdara and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Police alleged that members of the syndicate have been involved in several cases of extortion, murder, attempt to murder, land grabbing and other serious offences. Investigators also claimed that some members of the gang have been operating from abroad, particularly from Nepal and Dubai.

The Special Cell said it has taken a series of actions against the syndicate in recent months. In one such case, registered as FIR No. 08/2026 under the Arms Act at the Special Cell Police Station, alleged sharpshooter, Sohail alias Alam alias Tohid, was arrested on the intervening night of January 10 and 11. Police recovered one pistol and three live cartridges from his possession.

In another operation linked to FIR No. 303/2025 under the Arms Act, police arrested two alleged gang associates — Jasim alias Aalu and Jahangir alias Ikka — on December 11, 2025. Four pistols and 14 live cartridges were allegedly recovered during that operation.

Police said Shabir Ali is a native of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh and allegedly entered the criminal world in the mid-1990s through his association with Haji Afzaal of Seelampur. He allegedly became involved in several incidents of firing, murder and gang rivalry across North-East Delhi and the National Capital Region.

According to the police, following the murder of his brother Shamim Ahmed in 2008, Shabir intensified his criminal activities. During his incarceration in previous cases, he allegedly came into contact with several hardened criminals, including Hashim Baba and Anwar Khan alias Chacha, strengthening the organised crime network.

Police said Shabir Ali has previously been arrested in several criminal cases, including one under the MCOCA, and has been involved in 14 criminal cases relating to murder, attempt to murder, extortion and other serious offences. He is also wanted in FIR No. 629/2024, which is being investigated by the Special Cell and is facing a non-bailable warrant issued by a Delhi court in connection with an Arms Act case registered at Bhajanpura Police Station in 2022.

According to the Special Cell, key members of the organised crime syndicate, including Hashim Baba, Anwar Khan alias Chacha, Zoya Khan, Sameer alias Baba, Salim Ahmed alias Salim Pistol, Harsh Pal Singh alias Rubal and Illiyas, are currently lodged in jail under the MCOCA case.

Pune, June 25: The probe into Pune’s Lohagad Fort incident, where the death of Pune businessman’s son Ketan Agarwal, which was initially passed off as an accident, later turned out to be a cold-blooded murder, is unearthing murkier details each passing day, and more secrets related to his fiancée Siya Goyal are tumbling out of the closet.

In the latest revelations, Goyal and her lover Chetan Babulal Chaudhary are understood to have met to plan in detail how to kill Agarwal during a vacation trip and project it as an “accidental fall”.

CCTV footage has emerged showing Goyal meeting her Chaudhary at a cafe, before she pushed her fiancée to his death from the Lohagad fort.

According to media, which accessed the CCTV footage, the duo met at a café in Pune on June 18 when they hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Agarwal, 26.

Both have already been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy by the Pune police. According to police, Siya and Chetan met at a cafe in Pune on June 18 to hatch the murder plot.

They discussed a plan to murder Agarwal and also identified specific locations on the fort from where he could be pushed to his death. The same day, Goyal accompanied Agarwal to Lohagad Fort, while Chaudhary followed them clandestinely on the mountain trek.

It was between 10.30 a.m. and 11 a.m. that Goyal called up Agarwal’s family to inform them that he had fallen into a gorge. She told the family that he slipped during the trek, but the police maintained that he was pushed by the duo from behind.

Earlier, the police questioned both Goyal and Chaudhary after bringing them face-to-face.

The two accused, sent to seven-day police custody, were questioned until late last night.

Agarwal, the son of a prominent businessman in Pune, was engaged to Goyal in February this year. The two families were preparing for a lavish wedding scheduled for November, reportedly involving private jets and palace venues.

New Delhi, June 25: In a major crackdown on narcotics trafficking under the Government of India’s flagship Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of the South-East District Police has busted an interstate ganja smuggling network and seized 183 kilograms of contraband valued at around Rs 1.5 crore in the illegal market.

The operation led to the arrest of three key members of the syndicate, including the alleged mastermind and owner of the truck used to transport the narcotics. According to Delhi Police, the contraband was ingeniously concealed inside a specially fabricated secret compartment built above the driver’s cabin of a truck container.

Police said the seizure has dealt a significant blow to an interstate trafficking network operating across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR.

According to officials, the breakthrough came after the AATS received specific Intelligence on June 13, indicating that a truck container bearing registration number UP44AT2502 was carrying a large consignment of ganja from Uttar Pradesh towards Delhi via the Bombay Expressway during the intervening night of June 13 and 14.

The information was verified by SI Anil Kumar and shared with Inspector Ajay Dalal, In-Charge of AATS, who subsequently informed ACP Kalkaji V.K.P.S. Yadav. Acting on the tip-off, a special raiding team was constituted to intercept the vehicle and take action under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The team, comprising SI Anil Kumar, SI Jitender Raghuvanshi, HC Sher Singh, HC Krishan, HC Zuber Khan, Constable Lakpa Tenzing Sherpa, Constable Akshay, Constable Shivam and Constable Hemen Deka, was deployed near Kalindi Kunj Metro Station under the leadership of Inspector Dalal and the supervision of ACP Yadav.

At around 1:50 A.M. on June 14, the suspected truck was spotted moving towards Delhi and was intercepted near the Indian Oil LPG Plant on the Kalindi Kunj-Madanpur Khadar Road.

Police identified the occupants of the vehicle as Subodh Kumar Mishra, the driver, and Brij Kishore Tiwari, his associate and helper. During a detailed search conducted in the presence of senior officers and crime team officials, investigators discovered a specially designed hidden cabin above the driver’s compartment. The concealed section could only be accessed through a secret hatch.

Inside the compartment, police recovered 38 packets wrapped in brown adhesive tape. Upon examination, the packets were found to contain ganja. A total of 183 kilograms of the contraband was seized.

Following the recovery, a case was registered under FIR No. 387/2026 under relevant Sections of the NDPS Act, and further investigation was assigned to SI Jitender of AATS, South-East District.

During interrogation, the arrested accused allegedly revealed that they were involved in transporting commercial quantities of ganja from suppliers based in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to buyers in Delhi-NCR and nearby regions.

The investigation further revealed that the operation was allegedly being coordinated by Shriram, the owner of the truck and the alleged kingpin of the syndicate. Police said he was responsible for arranging the procurement, transportation and delivery of narcotics through a well-organised interstate network.

Based on disclosures made by the accused and technical surveillance, police traced and arrested Shriram from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Investigators are now working to identify the source suppliers, financiers and other members linked to the trafficking network.

The three arrested accused have been identified as Subodh Kumar Mishra (40), a resident of Bettiah in Bihar’s West Champaran district; Brij Kishore Tiwari (36), also a resident of Bettiah; and Shriram, a resident of Makdoompur village in the Sultanpur-Ayodhya region of Uttar Pradesh.

Police said Shriram has previously been involved in three NDPS cases related to commercial quantities of narcotics.

Apart from the 183 kg of ganja, the truck container used to transport the contraband has also been seized.