FBI detains gangster Himanshu Bhau, India may get custody soon

NEW DELHI: Himanshu Bhau, one of north India's most wanted gangsters, is learnt to have been detained in the US, after a four-year-long manhunt. Subject of a red notice from the Interpol, Bhau, a rival of Lawrence Bishnoi group, is wanted for multiple cases off shootings, killings and multi-crore extortions in Delhi and Haryana.Bhau, sources said, was apprehended by FBI in Las Vegas/Nevada region following inputs from Indian agencies. He is likely to be handed over to Indian law enforcement agencies, who have been chasing him since 2022, in the coming days, sources said.In his early twenties, Bhau is one of north India's most notorious young fugitives, heading an organised crime syndicate. He has been a headache for cops in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan with back-to-back killings, including three sensational murders in Delhi, this year."He belongs to Ritoli in the Rohtak district of Haryana and had got involved in crimes while still in school. He first entered police records in 2020 following a botched killing attempt involving a localized dispute in his native village," an investigator recalled.Since he was a minor at the time of apprehension, cops detained him and sent him to a juvenile observation home in Hisar. However, his stay there was brief; he engineered an audacious escape from the facility, casting aside any prospect of rehabilitation and plunging headfirst into a career of violent crime that soon expanded far beyond rural Haryana.Operating in close coordination with seasoned syndicates, including the Neeraj Bawana and Naveen Bali gangs, Bhau rapidly built a formidable network spanning Rohtak, Jhunjhunu, Sonipat, and the National Capital Region of Delhi.As law enforcement agencies closed in on his local footprints, including a series of high-profile murders in his home district in March 2022, he managed to orchestrate an escape from the country."In 2022, he executed three killings in a span of 24 days in March. The same year, using a passport obtained through fraudulent documents, Bhau slipped across international borders, initially fleeing to Dubai before moving on to European safe havens like Portugal, from where he continued to remotely direct his syndicate," said an investigator.Despite being a fugitive with Red Corner Notices and heavy cash rewards issued by multiple police jurisdictions and the National Investigation Agency, he leveraged encrypted messaging applications to command local shooters.He is suspected to have reached US through the "Dunkey Route" in late 2024-early 2025.His syndicate has claimed responsibility for a string of high-profile shootings, extortions, and contract killings that terrorised businessmen and shook law enforcement.Among his syndicate's most brazen operations was the daring killing of a rival at a prominent fast-food chain outlet in West Delhi's Rajouri Garden.His network has also targeted commercial establishments, unleashing dozens of rounds of gunfire at car showrooms in Naraina and Tilak Nagar alongside multi-million rupee extortion demands directed at builders, real estate developers, and local traders across Delhi-NCR.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in DelhiStay updated with the latest Delhi news. Download the TOI App.