New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): With the arrest of three members of the infamous Tillu Tajpuria-Neeraj Bawana gang, a possible murder of an eyewitnesses in a murder case has been averted, Delhi Police’s Special Cell said on Wednesday.

The arrested gang members have been identified as Rahul a.k.a Ranga, Rohit alias Janu, and Hariom a.k.a Ankit. One semi-automatic pistol, two single-shot pistols, and four live cartridges were recovered from their possession.

Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), H.G.S. Dhaliwal, said the accused were involved in several cases of murder, dacoity, robbery etc. in Delhi-NCR and Haryana.

The officer said that for the past few months, police teams have been working to track down and nab the members of the Tajpuria-Bawana gang.

“Information was continuously being received through reliable sources regarding their movements. To further develop such raw information, sources were carefully selected and deployed, and intensive surveillance was mounted. The team members were also stationed in the neighbouring states to gather precise inputs regarding the movements of the gang members,” said Dhaliwal.

“On August 22, specific information was received that three members of the Tajpuria-Bawana gang -- Rahul, Rohit and Hariom -- would be coming to the Rohini to area to eliminate two persons named Preeti and Dinesh, both residents of Karala, on the direction of Rakesh alias Raka, and Mohit a.k.a. Chichad,” Dhaliwal said.

According to the police, Preeti and Dinesh are eyewitnesses in a murder case.

A raid was conducted by the police which led to the trio's arrest.

The Special CP said that Rahul was arrested for the first time in an Arms Act case in 2017, when he was 16 years old.

In 2018, he was again arrested along with Mohit (his cousin brother) in a murder case.

“He was working with the Tillu Tajpuria gang, and used to collect extortion money on behalf of Mohit, especially from bootleggers and gamblers,” said the Special CP.

“Rohit’s elder brother was an active member of the Tillu Tajpuria gang, who is lodged in Tihar Jail for the last 3-4 years. Rohit too has been jailed a number of times,” Dhaliwal said.

“Hariom was sent to jail for the first time in 2018 in a robbery case. He was again sent to jail in 2020 in a murder case,” the officer added.