The appeal of establishing one’s own “following”, a way to make a quick buck and “inspiration” from reel and real-life gangsters have led to a splurge in the number of heinous crimes being committed by minors over the recent past, police officers aware of the matter said.
In many such cases, when caught, juveniles are sent to correctional homes, where they are counselled and involved in reform activities. According to child counsellors, most of these juveniles are inspired by gangsters, and come from underprivileged families without adequate access to education.
IPS officer Joy N Tirkey, a former deputy commissioner of police, who studied minors in northeast Delhi, said, “From interrogation of these minors so far, we found that they come from broken families with no one looking at their conduct due to which they fall into bad company and start committing crime for easy money or to feel powerful.”
The mother of a 17-year-old resident, who grew up seeing his father assault and abuse his wife, in Seelampur recalled how the boy was “innocent and didn’t ever even talk back to anyone” when he was a kid. “But when he turned around 11 or 12, he started spending a lot of time away from home. When he was 16, the boy had allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old man to death in Seelampur over a petty argument,” she said.
“This is how it is. I had to feed my children so I had to go out and work. If I stayed home watching over him, we would die of hunger. But I didn’t…. And this is what happened… The first-ever time police came to take him, I was shocked. Till then, I hadn’t realised that his bad company would also indulge him in crime,” she said.
However, this is hardly an isolated case as evidenced by the series of crimes involving minor perpetrators.
According to police, on October 3, two teenagers walked into a health facility in southeast Delhi and allegedly shot dead a 54-year-old Unani practitioner at point-blank range in revenge. Last month, five juveniles are alleged to have stabbed two boys in south Delhi, over gang rivalry. In May, four other minors, involved in prior criminal cases of robbery and attempt to murder, allegedly stabbed a person multiple times in full public view in northeast Delhi, as the victim previously threatened one of them.In another horrific crime in November 2023, a 17-year-old is alleged to have stabbed a man at least 50 times in a robbery bid, and then celebrated the kill.
Senior police officers of the Crime Branch said that minors are no more limited to petty crimes and are now “regulars” in committing major ones, including premeditated shootings.
Major crimes
A police study found that between January 2022 and May 2024, 259 minors were involved in incidents of murder, attempted murder, rape, robbery, and extortion. In 2022 alone, 3,002 minors were reported to have been involved in multiple crimes, including 152 murders. In 2021, the number of minors was 3,317 minors and murders, 125.
This May, a 35-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death over 23 times by five people, including four minors, over a past dispute in northeast Delhi’s Jafrabad area even as passersby and locals stared on. Investigation revealed that two of the minors, both aged 16 years, in June last year allegedly slit the throat of a cab driver in northeast Delhi in a failed robbery bid, police officers said. The two were sent to a correctional home for two months by the Juvenile Justice Board.
They were let out within weeks, and were later caught with possession of arms in December.
IPS officer Joy N Tirkey (former DCP Northeast) told HT in May that no record is maintained for minors committing crime but confirmed that the boys were involved in heinous cases.
Last November, the district witnessed one of the most horrific juvenile crimes in the national capital. Captured in a CCTV camera, a 17-year-old boy was seen stabbing a man, 18, at least 50 times over a ₹350 robbery bid. After the alleged crime, the juvenile was seen jumping and celebrating the kill by dancing.
Gang wars
Apart from individual motives and petty crimes, the rise in juvenile crime has reached a point where infamous gangs are now “actively” recruiting minors, say police. There are also gangs in south and northeast Delhi which are solely being run by minors, they added.
One of the cases of gang rivalry was reported last month, when a 16-year-old boy was stabbed 13 times along with his friend by a group of five boys, aged around 17 years, in south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar. Rakesh Paweriya (former DCP crime) said that the accused belong to Hari Kishan gang (based in Tigri) whose leader, Kishan, 45, is lodged in Tihar jail.
Several dreaded gangs also rope in minors for organised crime, police said. The July shooting at the Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital, which exposed the law-and-order situation in the city and triggered protests by doctors and a political blame game, saw the involvement of a 16-year-old boy who allegedly fired four to six rounds of bullets at the 32-year-old victim. The boy was caught, and investigation revealed that he was associated with the Hashim Baba gang, police said.
Multiple gangs in the city are being run by “trigger-friendly minors” who are not afraid of the law, investigators believe. There are at least four gangs which are being run by minors in Delhi apart from smaller groups which operate independently.
Many young boys who become a part of these gangs also come from oppressive and low-income backgrounds, police said. “We can’t name these gangs but four such gangs have been identified. They fight for supremacy due to which they start with robberies and are not afraid to kill. They also take orders from bigger gangs for money and recognition. For firing, they may charge around ₹5,000 and for murder, they charge around ₹10,000,” an investigator said.
A child counsellor, who is often called in by Delhi Police, said, “The kids who indulge in crime are heavily inspired by gangsters—the famous ones and even the local ones. Most teenagers who indulge in committing crime come from low income background. They have no access to education and even if they do, parents are not around to watch out for what they’re doing because they’re busy earning a livelihood.”
Active recruitment
Few of the local gangs are benefiting from the “eagerness” of the teenagers are Rohit Chaudhary gang and Prince Tewatia gang, police said.
Last month, police arrested a henchman of the Tewatia gang, 20-year-old Honey Rawat, who allegedly fired half a dozen bullets outside a businessman’s house in south Delhi. A team led by DCP (crime) Sanjay Sain arrested Rawat. “Rawat would roam along with juveniles and go for robbery and extortion bids. They actively take minors with them for recce and extortion bids,” an officer part of the team told HT.
In July, a 16-year-old boy along with two other men opened fire at a gym owner in north Delhi’s Burari area. Police said the accused are linked to Jitender Gogi-Deepak Boxer gang.
In such cases, where big names are involved, an officer, investigating the case, said that minors do not ask for money or any other financial incentive. “They want fame. They want to be called Tewatia or Gogi’s henchmen. Initially, they are taken for recce. After some time, the gangsters trust them with robbery, extortion, firing and murder.”
The officers further said that since most of the gang leaders are dead (Gogi, Tillu, Tewatia) or jailed (Chaudhary, Bishnoi), the gangs seek help of juveniles to do the jobs.
As per senior police officers in the crime branch and local police, most of the juvenile crimes are taking place in northeast Delhi. One of the locals gangs, Maya gang, is said to be run by juveniles. The gang came to limelight last year in August after five of its members allegedly shot dead an Amazon employee. Police said the main accused was aged between 17-18 and formed his gang in 2020.
“He was inspired by movies and jailed gangster Chhenu Pahalwan. He posted photos of the pistols. He would keep following Pahalwan’s men and then became a close associate when he was put in an observation home in 2020-21,” said an officer. Police said the Maya gang is active in areas such as Jafrabad, Seelampur, Chand Bagh etc.
Another gang in northeast Delhi, the Mastan gang, robs unsuspecting bikers and car drivers on highways and isolated areas. Police said the juveniles in the gang like to “show off” new phones, bikes and gadgets on Instagram.