The story of the real Kachcha Baniyan Gang that Delhi Crime Season 2 is based on

The Season 2 of crime thriller series Delhi Crime premiered on August 26 on Netflix. The first season of the International Emmy-winning show was based on the Delhi gang rape, while the second season focuses on the 'Chaddi Baniyan Gang' or the 'Kachcha Baniyan Gang'.

As mentioned by Netflix in the official description, the series is based on both real and fictional events. The five-episode-long Season 2 of Delhi Crime is based on the crimes of the notorious Kachcha Baniyan Gang who killed, raped, robbed and assaulted people, in Delhi in the 90s.

Who were the Kachcha Baniyan Gang? The Kachcha Baniyan Gang operated in the northern parts of the country in the 1990s. And they are still said to be active in some areas.

A group of 5-10 people carried out the whole crime at one spot, usually at night. Every member of the gang wore a mask, making it difficult for the police to recognise them.

The first incident was reported in May 1990 in Delhi. But later, it was discovered that the gang became active in 1987.

Till today, they have been active in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh.

What was their modus operandi? The Kachcha Baniyan Gang visited the spot during the day as beggars or common labourers. This helped them mentally note the well-to-do families. At night, the gang robbed these families. They killed everyone who resisted the robbery or tried to escape.

They would also sometimes eat all the food at the victim’s home. The gang often tried to rob as many houses as possible at one location before moving to the next spot.

For the murders, the Kachcha Baniyan Gang used rods, axes, knives and firearms.

What’s behind the name? The gang became popular by two names: Kachcha Baniyan Gang or the Chaddi Baniyan Gang. The name was given to them since the members of the gang wore only undergarments while committing the crimes.

They also applied oil on their bodies to make it difficult for anyone to hold or capture them.

The real crimes: Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar’s book Khaki Files (the basis of the season of Delhi Crime) also talks about the gang.

In an interview with PTI, Kumar revealed the following:

• During 1990 and 1991, there was a spate of house dacoities with murder, in which people would break into homes and kill every inmate in their sleep. Then they would ransack the house in peace and take away all the valuables.
• It took Delhi Police three months to nab the culprits. Since then, no such crimes have taken place in Delhi.
• The primary aim of the gang was to loot. But the members would also go on to kill the residents using a sickle-like blunt weapon called 'daulatiya'.
• Daulatiya means something to earn 'daulat' (wealth) with. It is a sickle-like weapon which is made of wrought iron. They used this to break open the homes and also bludgeon people.
• Kumar and his team solved 13 cases and caught the gang. “We sent a police party and got all of them arrested. When they were interrogated, we managed to solve almost 13 similar cases involving house robberies and murder,” he said.
• Four members of the gang were also arrested on April 4, 2016 in Mumbai.
• Later, some were arrested after a night-long siege in Borivali near Mumbai.

Delhi Crime Season 2 tells the story of DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, played by Shefali Shah. In the series, the Kachcha Baniyan Gang attacks the elderly in Delhi. The series shows how the police traced them.