JHAJJAR: Gangster Mainpal Badli alias Mainpal Dhilla arrived at a farmhouse in Jhajjar under heavy police security on Wednesday to marry his Cambodian partner after a court granted him 12-hour custody parole.Badli, who is serving a life sentence in jail, was brought out of custody at 8am and has been allowed to remain out until 8pm on September 24. He will remain under police surveillance throughout the parole period and will be taken back to jail after the wedding.The wedding is being held at Dulina Farm on the Jhajjar-Gurugram Road, near the jail. His partner, a Cambodian national, has arrived in Jhajjar with her family and three children. The wedding rituals are being performed according to Hindu customs.
From life sentence to Cambodia and back
Mainpal Dhilla, a native of Badli village in Jhajjar district, was arrested last year after being extradited from Cambodia in an operation coordinated by the CBI, Haryana Police and the Union ministries of home and external affairs.According to officials, Dhilla has 22 cases registered against him, including murder. He was convicted in three cases registered in 2007 and 2010 and was serving a life sentence at Hisar jail.Dhilla had earlier been released on parole on July 17, 2018, but allegedly fled the country on August 29 that year using a fake identity, officials said. He subsequently travelled to Cambodia and established a base in Siem Reap, where he reportedly ran a nightclub and married a local woman, with whom he had three children.
Extradited from Cambodia
Following a request from Haryana Police, the CBI obtained an Interpol Red Notice against Dhilla on November 6, 2024. Investigators traced his movements from Thailand to Cambodia and informed Cambodian authorities that he was allegedly travelling on fraudulent documents.The CBI subsequently sought his provisional arrest through Interpol channels on March 26, 2025. Cambodian authorities arrested him on July 24, 2025, and later agreed to hand him over to India through diplomatic channels.A Haryana STF team led by IPS officer Wasim Akhtar travelled to Cambodia and brought Dhilla back to India. He was formally arrested after landing at Delhi airport.Dhilla was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 29, 2013, in a Bahadurgarh case involving murder, attempt to murder, illegal use of firearms and criminal conspiracy. He had also been convicted in two other cases, officials said.
