NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough against transnational organised crime, the Delhi Police Special Cell has apprehended one of the capital’s most notorious gangsters, Harsimran alias Badal alias Simran, after an extensive, multi-agency operation that led to his deportation from Bangkok on 26 November 2025.
A long-time resident of East Shalimar Bagh, Harsimran carries a vast criminal background spanning nearly twenty years. He is linked to 23 cases involving extortion, murder, attempted murder, and multiple violations under the Arms Act. After obtaining bail in several cases, he stopped appearing before trial courts in at least 14 of them. He is also listed as a Bad Character (BC) at PS Shalimar Bagh. His record includes two murder cases from 2013, numerous incidents of armed assaults, repeated extortion attempts, property destruction, threats, and intimidation. He has already been convicted in two previous cases.
Central investigative agencies played a crucial role in tracing, detaining and facilitating the return of the 38-year-old gangster, who had absconded from India earlier this year using a forged passport issued in the name of Rajesh Singh. A special cell team took Harsimran into custody at Delhi Airport shortly after his deportation. He has been booked under Sections 318/339/340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
According to police officials, Harsimran had been attempting to build an “international gangster” profile and was working to expand his operations into the US and Europe in collaboration with gangster Goldy Dhillon.
The investigation gained momentum in November 2024, when the Special Cell arrested absconding criminal Mahender Singh, who revealed during interrogation that the arms and ammunition found in his possession had been supplied by Harsimran. This interrogation also led to the discovery that Harsimran had procured a fake passport from Gorakhpur using the alias Rajesh Singh. With this forged identity, he boarded a flight from Lucknow to Bangkok in January 2025.
After fleeing the country, he reportedly threatened a key witness in one of his ongoing trials—demanding 50 lakh and warning the individual to retract testimony. This prompted a new FIR at PS Mukherjee Nagar. A Look Out Circular was soon issued, and the Ministry of External Affairs formally cancelled his fake passport.
Further investigation revealed that Harsimran’s international movements were orchestrated through a Dubai-based kabootar baaz (illegal immigration agent) believed to be associated with Goldy Dhillon.
From Bangkok, Harsimran travelled to Dubai and later to Azerbaijan in an attempt to reach the United States. However, his plan faltered when a co-traveller’s faulty paperwork resulted in both being deported. Undeterred, he attempted to reach Europe using the Russia-Belarus-Latvia-Poland corridor, but was detained at the Belarus border and sent back once again. As his Dubai business visa neared expiration, he returned to Bangkok to seek an extension. There, central agencies, working with Thai authorities and acting on a comprehensive dossier prepared by Delhi Police , located and detained him.
Following the cancellation of his passport and the issuance of international alerts , Thai authorities held him and facilitated his swift deportation to India. Upon arrival in Delhi, he was immediately placed under arrest and questioned extensively before being formally booked.
Harsimran’s background traces back to his early years as a wrestler, training in akharas across Delhi and later in Kolhapur. His descent into crime began after forming associations with hardened criminals such as Samunder of Budh Vihar, Manoj and Vijay “Naughty”. Over time, he established his own gang, operating a violent extortion network across North and North West Delhi. Police state that he routinely used threats, intimidation, and even open gunfire to enforce payments from his targets.
Delhi Police said that further investigation is underway, focusing on his international facilitators, fake passport networks and associates connected to Goldy Dhillon. Authorities have described the arrest as a major setback for organised crime groups seeking to expand their operations beyond India’s borders.
