New Delhi: Gangster Tillu Tajpuriya, who was killed inside the high-risk ward of Delhi’s Tihar jail Tuesday, allegedly in an attack by four fellow inmates, had been accused in over 14 cases of murder, robbery, dacoity, extortion, attack on public servant and violations of the Arms Acts, ThePrint has found. The accused in Tajpuriya’s killing are allegedly members of the gangster’s rival Jitender Maan, alias Gogi’s, gang.
A class 10 dropout, police sources said that while in school, Tajpuriya had practiced wrestling and had participated in many tournaments. He had been in jail since 2016, from where he allegedly continued to run his criminal operations.
He had been a key accused in a shoot-out at Delhi’s Rohini court complex in September 2021. Gogi, who had carried a reward of Rs 4 lakh on his head according to police sources, had been shot dead in that incident, allegedly by two men — identified by the police as Rahul and Jagdeep — who had come dressed as lawyers. The killing, according to police sources, had been planned from inside Tihar.
“He was accused in 14 cases of murder, attempted to murder, extortion, criminal intimidation and obstructing public servants from discharging their official duties. He had also also been booked for violation of the Arms Act and under the MCOC [Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime] Act,” a senior officer of Delhi Police told ThePrint.
The officer added: “He was a trigger-happy man who often indulged in violence in public places. Most of the heinous killings in which he was accused were done in broad daylight and in public places and in all these cases he and his associates used illegal firearms.”
The officer further alleged that Tajpuriya would intimidate witnesses who deposed before the court against him and had also been involved in the murder of a witness.
According to police records accessed by ThePrint, of the fourteen cases registered against him, Tajpuriya was convicted in two cases of murder and violation of the Arms Act, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. While the case was quashed by the Delhi High Court on grounds of “compromise”, he was acquitted in another after the witness turned hostile. Nine other cases registered against him are pending adjudication.
An original resident of Tajpur Kalan in Alipur, from where he derives his name, his father had been an employee at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, according to his police dossier, accessed by ThePrint.
Police sources added that he had an elder brother, Anil, who had previously been employed as a driver in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), but lost his job owing to alleged involvement in criminal activities.
“His father was an MCD worker, but Tejpuriya never wanted to get into service. He was always influenced by guns and violence and that is why initially he started roaming around with petty criminals and then found his way to organised crime,” a second Delhi Police officer said.
He also had contacts with ‘gangster’ Neeraj Bawana, the officer added.
The Tillu-Gogi rivalry
According to police sources, it was after the killing of ‘gangster’ Neetu Dabodia in 2013 and the arrest of Bawana in 2015, that the Tajpuriya and Gogi rose to prominence.
Their rivalry dated back to a 2013 students’ union election at Delhi’s Swami Shraddhanand College, the sources added.
“Gogi had then been a student at Shraddhanand college and had stood for the election. He had a fight with a rival group, which was supporting Tajpuriya’s cousin as candidate. Those supporting Tajpuriya’s cousin beat up candidates supporting Gogi, forcing him to withdraw,” the second officer said. Since Tajpuriya had been supporting his cousin, that was the start of the rivalry between the two.
The officer further alleged: “Both wanted to be Delhi’s biggest don and often fought over areas that they would dominate. This is when things got ugly and killings on both sides became a norm. One after the other they started eliminating members of each other’s gangs. In fact, Tillu had announced during a court hearing that he would eliminate Gogi.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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