The accused sustained a bullet injury in his leg (TOI)
Gurgaon: The special task force (STF) of Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested a key member of the Deepak Nandal gang following an encounter near Bandhwari village. Police said Nivesh alias Dilla is one of the shooters of the gang.Nivesh, a resident of Jajal village in Sonipat district, was nabbed in the wee hours after he opened fire on a police team attempting to intercept him. Police returned fire in self-defense and overpowered the accused, who sustained a bullet injury in his leg during the exchange. He was later admitted to Civil Hospital in Sector 10 for treatment. An illegal pistol was seized from his possession, police said.According to STF officials, specific intelligence inputs were received on April 13 indicating that Nandal, who is operating his gang from abroad, tasked Nivesh with carrying out a firing at the office of a Gurgaon-based businessman for extortion. Acting on the tip-off, the STF team laid a blockade near Bandhwari.“At 12.50am, the police signaled a motorcycle rider to stop. Instead, the suspect tried to flee and fired multiple rounds at the team. Two bullets struck the bulletproof jackets of sub-inspector (SI) Vivek and probationary SI Vikas, preventing injuries,” a police officer said.A case was registered against Nivesh under sections 109(1) (attempt to murder), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from his duty), 132 (assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant to prevent them from discharging their duties), 221 (voluntarily obstructing a public servant from performing their official duties) of BNS and under the Arms Act at DLF Phase-1 police station.During preliminary questioning, police found that Nivesh was an active member of the gang and was involved in supplying weapons in previous incidents, including a firing case in Karnal. He, according to the investigators, is also suspected to have facilitated weapons in a Feb 2026 firing incident targeting a businessman in Gurgaon in which shooters fired a gunshot outside his office located at Golf Course Road.Police said the accused was wanted in connection with an FIR registered on Feb 26, 2026, at DLF Phase-1 police station. STF officials said interrogation is underway to gather details about other members of the gang and its network.Last year, Nandal was named in three FIRs in the city alone — for engineering the firing on rapper Rahul Yadav alias Fazilpuria’s car on Southern Peripheral Road on July 14, the contract killing of property dealer Rohit Shokeen on Aug 4 and the firing at real estate company MNR Buildmark’s office in Sector 45 on Sept 18.