Kaushal doesn’t want to go to Bhondsi jail, fears for his life

GURUGRAM: The special task force of Haryana Police is faced with a strange situation.
This is because NCR’s most wanted gangster Kaushal has pleaded before interrogators to keep him in their custody, expressing fears that he could be killed on the directions of rival gangster Bindar Gujjar if shifted to Bhondsi jail after culmination of his police remand on September 2, sources told TOI.

Kaushal’s fears are not unfounded. Since the 1980s, Gurugram has witnessed the alleged killings of as many as six gangsters — Surendar alias Fauji, Rajesh alias Rajje, Neetu Gahlot, Sunil Malik, Sandeep Gadoli and Mahesh Attack. And Bindar Gujjar is believed to have plotted five of the six murders.
For instance, Gadoli was killed in 2016 in an alleged fake encounter in Mumbai by a team of Gurugram police. And it’s alleged that Gujjar, a former counsellor, had paid Rs 5 crore to the cops for the encounter as a revenge against the murder of Mahesh Attack, his close aide, allegedly orchestrated by Kaushal.
With Gujjar currently out of jail after being acquitted by a Gurugram court last year in a 2015 murder case, Kaushal told interrogators that his death would pave the way for his rival to establish a monoploy in the Gurugram underworld. The reason being Kaushal was the one who had posed a challenge to Gujjar’s supremacy after Gadoli’s death.
“Gujjar has close connections with police and jail authorities and he is known for getting things done by offering huge sums of money. For executing a crime, Gujjar engages a new person, including cops, every time to stay away from any trouble,” said a STF officer, quoting Kaushal.
“In 2006-07, Kaushal was the new kid on the block while Gujjar was an established gangster. From that time, Gujjar sees Kaushal as a rival. Kaushal told us that in 2008 when he was in jail in connection with Chhelu murder case, Gujjar had offered Sandeep Gadoli, who was also in jail at the time, Rs 10 lakh to kill him,” the officer said.
During interrogation, Kaushal also told investigators that he had fled the country in December 2017 primarily due to threat to his life from Gujjar.
TOI reported on Tuesday that though Kaushal had been sending extortion threats to businessmen through audio clips on WhatsApp from abroad, his life as a fugitive wasn’t easy. Kaushal, who had taken on the alias of ‘Narender Kumar’, worked in a sheikh’s barns where he looked after goats and camels, and took up jobs like cooking in Dubai. “The gangster told us that Gujjar made plans to kill him in Dubai as well,” said the STF officer.
When contacted, DIG of STF Satheesh Balan confirmed that Kaushal had expressed some fears during interrogation.
“We are trying to get more details,” said Balan.