New Delhi, May 24 -- The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested five alleged sharpshooters linked to the notorious Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu gang for allegedly plotting a firing incident at a clinic in southwest Delhi's Chhawla area as part of an extortion racket, officials said.

The accused have been identified as Abhishek, Sahil, and Harshdeep alias Polu, all residents of Amritsar in Punjab, along with Karan alias Ankush and Aman, both residents of Kaithal in Haryana.

Police said three semi-automatic pistols, four live cartridges and three mobile phones used for communication with gang members were recovered from their possession. According to officials, the operation was carried out on March 20 by a team of the Special Cell's Northern Range led by Inspectors Anuj Nautiyal and Chandan Kumar under the supervision of ACP Rahul Kumar Singh.

The arrests followed sustained technical and manual surveillance on organised criminal gangs operating across Delhi-NCR.

Police said they had received specific intelligence inputs suggesting that Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, who is allegedly operating the extortion network from abroad, had hired Punjab-based shooters to target a prominent location in southwest Delhi.

During the investigation, officials found that the gang members had conducted reconnaissance of the clinic in February and were planning to execute the attack later.

Police said Abhishek disclosed during interrogation that he and his associates had travelled to Delhi on Nandu's directions to open fire at the clinic for extortion purposes.

According to investigators, arms, ammunition and a motorcycle were arranged through gang associates based in Kaithal. However, the accused allegedly failed to execute the attack due to a heavy crowd presence near the clinic and instead carried out a recce before returning, police said.

Based on Abhishek's disclosure, police traced and arrested Sahil, Harshdeep, Karan and Aman. Investigators said Harshdeep was in direct contact with Kapil Sangwan and had recruited the other shooters for monetary gain.

Police said the arrests have significantly disrupted the gang's extortion network and helped avert a major firing incident in the national capital.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.