New Delhi: The echo of gunfire outside a gym in UP’s Shamli on Aug 26 did more than just silence 27-year-old Haryanvi singer and YouTuber Ankit Balyan. It marked the revival of Delhi’s most feared Gogi gang, suggesting the syndicate remains active five years after kingpin Jitender Maan alias Gogi’s assassination in a crowded Rohini courtroom.Despite its core leadership — Rohit Moi, Deepak Boxer, Dinesh Karala, Yogesh Tunda and Deepak Teetar — in Tihar, the gang has managed to come out of the shadows with Balyan’s killing, ringing alarm bells in Delhi, with cops keeping a cautious watch on the developments. Specialised units have been roped in for a manhunt for the absconding shooters in the Balyan case amid fears they can strike in the city next, engage in extortion bids and kill rivals, according to sources.The gang’s resurgence is particularly alarming given that it has suffered massive setbacks. Besides the kingpin’s killing, the other gang members have been regularly arrested in Delhi and Haryana in the past two-three years. The rival Tajpuria gang dealt further blows with two back-to-back killings of Gogi’s henchmen earlier this year in outer Delhi. But the cartel’s hierarchy seems to have mutated rather than collapsed.So, how did the gang manage a comeback? Investigators suspect low-rung foot soldiers on bail and foreign-based handlers like Rahul alias Bholu Shahpuria helped the gang emerge from the shadows again. Also, the gang’s incarcerated bigwigs still seem to be active while in jail. A critical catalyst for the renewed aggression seems to be a strategic underworld alliance with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, forged years ago by Jitender Gogi himself.Supported by Lawrence’s overarching umbrella, the gang now relies on an expendable army of low-rung foot soldiers who are being allegedly recruited through Instagram and promised an “out of country” card after successful completion of tasks. The two absconding shooters in the Balyan case, it is suspected, may have fled abroad too. These street-level operatives are allegedly being coordinated by fugitive entities operating safely from foreign soil. Figures like Bholu Shahpuria, based in Canada, have stepped in to manage logistics.What has alarmed Delhi cops further is the apparent trigger in Balyan’s killing, which underscores the syndicate’s obsession with retribution. Balyan was allegedly a target for a music video featuring the lyrics “Bhari court me goli maarenge meri jaan”, with visual references to shooters dressed as lawyers. “The Gogi gang perceived the track as a direct insult mocking Gogi’s 2021 courtroom killing. The ‘insult’ was further magnified by the fact that Balyan shared the same local roots as Gogi’s rival, Tillu Tajpuria,” said an investigator.For years, Delhi witnessed a slew of killings — at least 36 murders in the past 15 years — in the gang war between Gogi and Tajpuria. Retired officials said this rivalry began one and a half decades ago as a college election dispute between childhood friends Gogi and Tajpuria morphed into a turf war.After Gogi’s killing, Deepak Boxer took the reins and ran the gang from Mexico, but he was tracked down and brought back after a complex operation by FBI and Delhi Police in April 2023.The Gogi gang extracted vengeance a month later when incarcerated loyalists — led by Yogesh Tunda and Deepak Titar — cornered Tillu Tajpuria inside Tihar Jail’s courtyard and stabbed him over 100 times with makeshift shivs.
