Expensive gifts, access to luxury items and exposure to firearms are used as entry points by the Dinesh Karala gang to recruit youngsters in outer Delhi and neighbouring Haryana, say police. The recruits are then gradually drawn into drug consumption and criminal activities.

Gagan, a 17-year-old, was drawn into drug consumption through peer pressure. The desire to “look rich” led him to the strongholds of Rahul Mathur alias Dogra, the most active member of the Dinesh Karala gang. At first, he was gifted a pair of shoes and a designer cap.

“A couple of weeks later, a smartphone. A few months later, Gagan was holding a sophisticated foreign-made gun in his hand, in the presence of other gang members,” said Shashank Jaiswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini).

According to the police, this is one of the ways recruits are inducted into gangs.

“Social media is actively used to both intimidate and influence youth into criminal activities. Ammunition is displayed on social media platforms to project a dominant image among rival groups as well as to lure young people into what is perceived as cool,” the DCP said.

In a recent extortion-related firing incident in Rohini, first-time offenders and young individuals were hired using such inducements, a senior police officer said.

Pictures of youngsters casually holding and posing with weapons on social media platforms are monitored by the police, and action has been taken against such accounts. “At least three such accounts have been acted against in the past two months, with FIRs registered under the Arms Act and posts either taken down or accounts deleted,” the officer added.

Foreign-made weapons

The Delhi police arrested Mathur and his five associates on April 30. It recovered three sophisticated foreign-made guns, including a Glock pistol, an Italian Beretta and a Turkish-made Zoraki. “Foreign-made pistols are not very common, but these have been found with gangsters in past incidents. These weapons were procured as part of stockpiling or for sale to others for profit, and are intended for future criminal activities,” the officer said.

Despite the killing of the main kingpin, Jitender Mann, alias Gogi, in Mandoli Jail in 2021, and several key members operating from abroad, the gang has been exerting significant influence in outer Delhi and neighbouring Haryana through its land-grabbing, arms and drug supply network.

“At present, the gang is being operated by Monti Maan through his associates while he remains absconding. Gang members Dinesh Karala, Vijay Maan and Manjeet Maan have been found involved in various criminal activities, such as pressurising owners of high-value properties to sell them at lower rates, which they later resell for substantial profit margins. These tactics are being used to run their arms and drug supply network, which has inter-State linkages,” the DCP said.