Palam gang leader held in murder case

NEW DELHI: The inter-state cell of the crime branch has arrested the leader of a gang of property dealers-cum-sharp shooters who controlled the selling of lands worth crores near Palam village close to the airport. The cops said with the arrest of Vinod alias Vickey, at least two murder cases and several firing cases on the southern fringe of the city had been solved.
On September 26, ACP Rajinder Bakshi's team received a tip-off that Vinod, involved in the murder of property dealer Balwan Solanki alias Palle of Palam village, would come near Mundka Metro station. A trap was laid and Vinod (30), now a resident of Sector 7, Dwarka, was arrested. One countrymade pistol, along with three live cartridges, was recovered from him.
Vinod has told the police that he and Balwan were involved in property disputes. "The dispute started when both claimed possession of a gram sabha plot of Palam. Subsequently, Vinod, in association with another gangster of Palam, Binder Pahalwan, took possession of the land. They divided the land equally between themselves. This enraged Balwan who, along with his associates, assaulted Vinod and his brother Pramod. Both sustained serious injuries. A case of hurt was registered against Balwan and he was arrested. However, he started pressurizing Vinod for an out-of-court settlement. It was around this time Vinod, along with his associates, murdered Balwan," said DCP (crime) Ashok Chand.
Vinod began his criminal career in 2005 when he was involved in a case of hurt of PS Dwarka-23 while helping his father in property dealing. In 2009, there was a dispute between him and an owner of Medical shop of Palam Village. In order to threaten him he came armed with a weapon and fired at him. Case of attempt to murder was registered at PS Palam Village and he was arrested. In the month of April, 2010, Vinod injured two policemen when they went to his house at Sec.-7 Dwarka for making some inquiries.
By this time he had acquired notoriety and in the year 2011 he got involved in settling property disputes. One such property dispute was between Rajiv Goel of Gupta Properties Sec.-7, Dwarka and Nitin Solanki of Palam Village. Vinod was roped in by both the parties to settle the property dispute but when they did not agree to his terms of settlement, he opened fire in front of the houses of Rajiv Goel, his partner Govind and Nitin Solanki. On February 28 this year, Vinod alongwith his brother Pramod kidnapped a builder from a construction site at H- Block, Dwarka. They put him in a car, beat him and left him at the same construction site after beating him as he refused to give Rs. 5 lakh to them.