Even as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to spike in India, a group of 40 gangsters was caught partying to celebrate the release of a fellow gang member out on bail for medical treatment.
On August 8, police in India’s national capital Delhi busted a gathering in the neighbourhood of Dwarka. The celebration was held in honour of gangster Sunny, alias Nandi’s, prison release on interim bail.
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Nandi, a member of Delhi’s notorious Naveen Khati gang, was accused of a double murder, attacking police personnel and robbery. He was out on bail to seek medical treatment till August 31. However, on the night of his temporary release, the police received a tip-off about a party at a venue in the Ponchapur village near Dwarka.
Upon raiding the venue, the police were able to arrest 37 gangsters. However, Nandi, along with two others, allegedly managed to scale a wall and escape before the cops could catch him.
The police detained five gangsters from the party for carrying illegal firearms. These five men were found to have several criminal cases from the past too. The other attendees were booked for violating social distancing norms, which forbid more than 10 people from gathering in one place. Their criminal antecedents are being looked into.
The bust also led to police seizing a massive cache of illegal arms, including four automatic country-made pistols, one short handgun, 13 cartridges, and three luxury cars.
Further investigations into the matter have revealed that these gang members had gathered to discuss breaking away from the Naveen Khati gang, and forming one of their own, under the leadership of Nandi.
Last year, cops raided a similar party organised by the same gang to celebrate the prison release of a fellow gangster named Kapil Sanghwan. 15 members of the gang were arrested back then, along with a cache of weapons which were used to severely injure a police officer in a shootout.
Following a Supreme Court directive in March to decongest India’s overcrowded prisons amidst rising COVID-19 cases, jails are releasing 14 categories of prisoners. These include women with severe illnesses, inmates over the age of 65 in states like Haryana and Odisha, undertrial prisoners and convicts nearing their parole hearings.
More than 42,000 undertrials and 16,000 on parole were released between March and June. However, reports reveal that many are jumping back to a life of crime. In June, at least 129 prisoners from the 2,800 released in Delhi were arrested and had to be taken back into custody. Most of these were housed in Tihar jail, South Asia’s largest prison complex.
This has also led to a rise in petty crimes since the lockdown was declared in India’s capital city, including snatching of goods and vehicle thefts.
Even as India is the third worst-hit country, with the highest number of single-day cases registered worldwide, police across India have frequently busted social gatherings that flout social distancing guidelines. In July, 31 people were arrested at a party held at a Delhi club ironically called Playgue, while 33 others were booked for hosting weekend parties in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony.
Even politicians have been caught hosting parties in the world’s strictest lockdown. While a local corporator from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was caught in Mumbai in April, the former chief minister of the south Indian state of Karnataka broke social distancing rules for his son’s wedding in May.
At the time of writing this, India has more than 2.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and over 45,257 deaths.
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