Delhi’s weddings see families, friends, and ‘Band, Baaja, Baaraat’ gangs

In November 2017, Samiksha Srivastava was hosting her son’s wedding at The Ashok, a five-star hotel in south Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, when a young boy approached her and, without warning, grabbed her handbag and ran away. Before Ms. Srivastava could realise that she had been robbed of her Louis Vuitton bag with nearly ₹3.30 lakh in cash, a few credit cards, and her driver’s licence, the boy was out of sight.

A year later, in December 2018, a similar incident occurred at a farmhouse in south Delhi’s Chhattarpur, where Khan Bahadur was welcoming guests at his newly married son’s reception.

However, this time, the crime was executed with a little more finesse by boys aged 12 and 18 who came to the venue dressed up as ‘baaraatis’ (wedding party guests).

‘Even took selfies’

“Nothing about the boys aroused suspicion. They even clicked selfies with the guests,” said Mr. Bahadur. Hours later, when his wife found her handbag missing, they knew whom to suspect.

“We found later that the younger boy had stepped onto the stage, stolen my wife’s bag, and hid it in his coat. The two stayed back at the function for a good one and a half hours before making their way out,” he recalled.

Both victims had fallen prey to a ‘Band, Baaja, Baaraat’ gang run by a 50-year-old man identified as Raj Kumar. The gangs get their name from the nature of their crime — targeting wedding functions of the rich in Delhi and adjoining cities in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Nabbed from hideout

When Delhi Police’s Crime Branch arrested Kumar and his associates — Sumit, 30, Mohit, 19, and Karan, 30 — from their hideout near the Ghitorni metro station on Wednesday, the officers found that the gang had committed thefts at three events in the national capital during the ongoing wedding season.

On November 12, Sumit and Karan stole cash and valuables from two weddings in outer Delhi’s Alipur. On November 17, they stole a bag filled with cash and valuables from another wedding function in Maidan Garhi, said the police.

“The ‘Band, Baaja, Baaraat’ gangs almost exclusively comprise people from Kadiya village in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district. The leaders of these gangs get into an anubandh or a social contract with poor people and hire them during the wedding season for a fixed sum,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Vikram Singh.

He added, “They train the recruits in how to blend in at high-profile weddings and steal valuables, such as handbags and jewellery, from the guests. Each family that gets into such an arrangement makes between ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 a season.”

The senior officer added that Kumar taught young boys how to identify and steal bags containing jewellery or cash at weddings and directed the operations from a rented taxi outside the venue using a cell phone. The minors were instructed to bring the stolen valuables to Kumar, who would then distribute them among the gang members.

Published - November 22, 2024 01:21 am IST