Godmother of crime: 62-yr-old Delhi woman wanted in 113 criminal cases, held

New Delhi: A 62-year-old woman known as the "godmother of crime" in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar, who was wanted in connection with the killing of a man, was arrested, police said on Saturday.

The accused identified as Basiran was declared a proclaimed offender, they said. A total of 113 criminal cases including that of bootlegging, murder, robbery, contract killing and snatching have been registered against Basiran and her family members, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, the accused was arrested from Sangam Vihar where she had come to meet her family members to decide further strategy in connection with seizure of her property, said Romil Baaniya, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (south).

In September 2017, a partially decomposed body was recovered from the jungle of Sangam Vihar. A case was registered in connection with the murder following which a juvenile was apprehended in this case in January 2018, he said. The juvenile then disclosed name of his associates namely Aakash, Vikash, Neeraj, Munni Begum and Basiran, he added.

After the co-accused was arrested, Basiran fled away and was evading her arrest since then, the DCP said. On May 25, Basiran was declared proclaimed offender in connection with the case. Subsequently, her property attached and sealed, he said. Meanwhile, the accused also filed an application seeking anticipatory bail at Delhi High Court and also sought release of her property at Saket Court. However, the Delhi Police strongly objected to it, giving her previous criminal background following which both applications were then dismissed by the court, the senior officer said. During interrogation, Basiran admitted that she had taken a contract of Rs 60,000 to kill Miraz who was a step-brother of one of the accused Munni Begum, he said. Basiran along with her associates hatched a conspiracy to kill Miraz. As per the plan, on the intervening night of 8 and 9 September 2017, Munni Begum took Miraz to Basiran's house and from there her associates took Miraz to a jungle in Sangam Vihar's K block where they intoxicated him and strangulated him to death using leather belt. The accused then burnt the body to hide his identity and buried it in the jungle, the officer added.

It was learnt that Basiran did not have any permanent source of income and so she started selling illicit liquor. The accused even motivated her eight sons including a minor to commit crime, the DCP said. Once, she acquired dominance in the area, with the help of her sons, she captured government water borewells in Sangam Vihar and was running a water supply mafia, he said. She was absconding since last eight months and was hiding in cities like Allahabad, Ahmedabad, Mainpuri and Firozabad, he added.

Police said a case of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA) has been registered against her son Shamim. She along with other family members will also be booked in connection with the case for amassing wealth from crime proceeds, the police said.