2 organised crime syndicates busted

Two organised crime syndicates—one selling illegal stickers that allowed commercial vehicles to bypass no-entry restrictions; and another, an extortion racket targeting transporters and traffic police personnel— were busted, said officials on Wednesday.

The kingpin of the racket, identified as Rajkumar, alias Raju Meena, has been slapped with charges under the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), they added.

Meanwhile four people, including the kingpin, Jeeshan Ali, have been arrested for manufacturing and selling stickers to commercial vehicle drivers for illegal movement during restricted hours, the officials said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said the first case surfaced after a commercial LGV driver attempted to evade prosecution at Badarpur and claimed exemption by producing a fabricated sticker.

“An FIR was registered and subsequent inspection of social media groups used by drivers revealed a parallel system being run by an organised syndicate that provided stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle per month, and also engaged in extortion from traffic personnel through doctored videos,” the DCP said.

During investigation, police identified two separate networks—one operated by Rajkumar, who targeted traffic police personnel and transporters using fabricated video clips and the other run by Jeeshan, who printed and sold stickers that promised safe movement during no-entry hours.

Both syndicates were functioning independently but used overlapping communication channels and shared financial patterns.

Following a discrete inquiry, a proposal to invoke the MCOCA was moved against Rajkumar. On approval, Sections 3 and 4 of the MCOCA were added to the FIR on December 8.

“Rajkumar has been running the extortion syndicate since 2015, recruiting associates, fabricating videos of officers, filing false complaints and withdrawing them only after extracting money. A team arrested both masterminds as well as three of Jeeshan’s associates after surveillance, technical analysis and interrogation. Those arrested include Chandan Kumar Chaudhary, Dilip Kumar and Dina Nath Chaudhary, alias Rajkumar. Rajkumar has seven cases against him, including those related to extortion and dacoity,” the DCP added.

He allegedly deployed drivers to intentionally violate traffic rules and record enforcement staff using spy cameras. The clips were later edited and used to threaten officers with fabricated allegations of bribery, compelling victims to pay extortion money.

In a parallel syndicate, Jeeshan allegedly manufactured and distributed more than 2,000 stickers every month. The sticker design, colour and embedded phone numbers were frequently changed to evade detection.

During raids on the premises out of where Jeeshan and his associates operated, the investigators seized 1,200 to 1,300 stickers, two rubber stamps used to imprint numbers, a licenced Webley pistol with five live cartridges, an SUV, a spy camera, a computer and several mobile phones containing incriminating chats, barcodes, voice notes and digital payment records.