New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) The Delhi Crime Branch has apprehended a wanted sharpshooter and an arms supplier linked to the Kapil Sangwan gang, also known as the Nandu Gang, officials said on Sunday.
A team from the Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested the accused, Sumit Punia, a resident of Mahendergarh district in Haryana, aged around 25 years. He was found in possession of a sophisticated country-made pistol along with five live cartridges.
Police said a case has been registered, and further interrogation, along with record verification, revealed that the accused had also been absconding in an encounter case.
Investigations into his criminal background and sustained questioning revealed that Punia hails from a village neighbouring that of notorious gangster Kapil Sangwan and had known him since childhood, when they used to play kabaddi together.
“The accused Sumit Punia disclosed that he is a 10th pass and left his studies due to a lack of interest. During the year 2020–2021, he joined the gang of Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu and became an active shooter for the gang. He further disclosed that in November 2025, he was arrested in a case of illegal arms registered at PS Nizampur, District Mahendergarh, Haryana, and remained in judicial custody,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Harsh Indora, in a statement.
“He has been previously involved in three other criminal cases registered across police stations in Delhi and Haryana. The accused is closely acquainted with notorious gangster Kapil Sangwan, alias Nandu, since childhood, as both belong to neighbouring villages in District Mahendergarh, Haryana,” he added.
Following Punia’s arrest, police, acting on his disclosure, also apprehended the alleged weapon supplier, identified as Badar Saifi, a resident of Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, aged about 32 years. He was arrested along with a sophisticated country-made pistol.
Police said the accused was actively involved in supplying illegal firearms to the gang, which were used by its members to intimidate victims who refused to pay extortion money.
Officials stated that the Crime Branch has been tasked with targeting shooters, arms suppliers and members of organised gangs. Both manual and technical surveillance were deployed to track the movements of suspects.
During the operation, Head Constable Pawan Kumar developed specific Intelligence inputs, which were further corroborated through technical analysis by Sub-Inspector Ravi Bhushan. Continuous and sustained efforts were made over the past month to locate and apprehend the accused.
Surveillance inputs later confirmed that Sumit Punia, a sharpshooter associated with the Nandu Gang, was present in the Dwarka area of New Delhi. Given the gravity of the offences and the threat posed by the accused, a dedicated team of the Crime Branch was constituted.
The team, led by Inspector Gautam Malik, included SI Ravi Bhushan, SI Kuldeep, HC Sonu, HC Pawan Kumar and Constable Mukesh. The operation was carried out under the supervision of ACP Raj Pal Dabas and the overall guidance of DCP Harsh Indora.
Acting swiftly on the Intelligence gathered, the team apprehended Sumit Punia from Dwarka, recovering from his possession a sophisticated country-made semi-automatic star pistol along with five live cartridges.
During further investigation, and based on Punia’s disclosure, another accused, identified as Badar Islam, was also apprehended from Bulandshahr.
–IANS
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