gurgaon

Updated: Oct 10, 2015 08:50 IST

Top Gurgaon police officers collected lakhs of rupees every month in kickbacks from notorious gangsters to turn a blind eye to a flourishing extortion racket that targeted prominent businessmen, according to the diaries of an underworld kingpin seized by authorities.

From a constable to a DIG, almost everyone in the police hierarchy was on the mafia’s payroll, say the journals discovered by crime branch officials during raids at the hideouts of mobster Sandeep Gadoli, pointing to a close-knit nexus of criminals and policemen in the industrial city.

“The details of the police officials mentioned in the diaries are yet to be investigated,” said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Ved Prakash Godara. “We will thoroughly scrutinise the contents.”

According to notes from one diary, a DIG-rank officer was paid Rs 18 lakh as protection money by Gadoli two years ago, while recipients also included constables, head constables, sub-inspectors and assistant commissioners of police.

The records suggest Gadoli’s gang extorted Rs 3 crore from traders and industrialists every month that he reportedly invested in real estate and gave away lakhs as bribes to cops with rates rising up the pecking order.

The diaries have a vast amount of content and have to be studied thoroughly,” the DCP said. “There are no doubts about the evidence and list of industrialists and businessmen who are paying monthly extortion fees to the syndicate. These will help police conduct raids at their (the gang’s) hideouts.”

The journals that span nearly a decade mention the first names of some policemen, but sources say the matter requires meticulous investigation as the names are shared by several officers, some of whom have since left the department.

While one of the diaries outlines the arrangement between organised crime and police, another has details of the money extracted by Gadoli from sweet shop owners, jewellers, bakeries, garment showrooms, etc, in Old Gurgaon. One of the journals also mentions a “hit list” with the names of 16 gangsters allegedly involved in the murder of Gadoli’s brother.

Gadoli is on the run but police found the diaries during searches at his residence and other properties after the driver of his key rival, mobster-turned-politician Binder Gujjar, was gunned down last week.