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With the setting up of doorframe metal detectors, CCTV cameras, drones and deployment of armed commandoes, a banquet in Delhi has turned into a fortress of sorts for the marriage of gangster Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi with 'history-sheeter' Anuradha Choudhary alias 'Madam Minz' on March 12, official sources said on Monday.
The Delhi Police has made a strategic plan to avert any incident of gang-wars or possibility of Sandeep's escape from custody, they said.
The banquet, Santosh Garden, in Dwarka Sector-3, has been booked by Sandeep's lawyer for Rs 51,000.
It is located seven kilometers away from Tihar jail.
"The doorframe metal detectors have been set up at the entry of the banquet. The guests will be given the bar-code bands before their entry and no vehicle without the entry pass will be allowed for the parking near the banquet," a Delhi police officer, who did not wish to be named said.
Over half a dozen of CCTV cameras and drones will also keep an eye on activities during the marriage, the official said.
Sandeep's marriage ceremony will be held under the deployment of 250 policemen along with SWAT (Special Weapons and Techniques) commandoes carrying hi-tech weapons, sources said.
The police personnel will include teams of special cell, crime branch and Haryana's Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), the sources said, adding officials from Rajasthan Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) will also keep a tab on Sandeep's marriage.
Some police officers in civil clothes but with weapons will also keep a tight watch on the venue, the official said.
Sandeep's family has already shared a list of 150 guests with the local police, another officer said.
The waiters and other workers during the marriage will be given IDs for identification, he said.
Once a wanted and rewardee of Rs 7 lakh, Sandeep from Haryana's Sonipat has got a parole of six hours for his marriage by a Delhi court. He will marry with Choudhary, who also faces several criminal records.
Sandeep is presently lodged in Tihar jail.
Sandeep is a close associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and is facing over a dozen cases of robbery, murders, attempt to murder, extortions and arms Act in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, according to Delhi Police records.
He has also been involved in cases of contract killings and extortions with the businessmen, another officer said.
In the past, Sandeep has fled once from the custody of Haryana Police and also orchestrated an escape of his associate from the custody of Delhi Police, the officer said.
A police officer said Sandeep had fled from the custody of Haryana Police while being escorted to Faridabad court in 2020. His gang men had surrounded the police and opened fire at them, leaving one police personnel injured.
In 2021, he, along with his associates, orchestrated a shootout in Delhi's GTB Hospital and managed to free one Kuldeep Fajja from the custody of Delhi Police, the officer said, adding, Fajja was later caught and killed in an encounter with Delhi Police's special cell.
"We don't want to take any chance this time. Therefore, an adequate deployment of police force will be put in place, from Tihar to marriage venue in Dwarka," a senior Delhi Police official said.
According to the court's order, Sandeep has got permission from 10 am to 4 pm for his marriage.
On the next day, March 13, he will taken to his home town in village Jathedi in Sonipat, Haryana for the couple's home-coming rituals.
The police said Sandeep will be escorted with a large number of Delhi Police personnel from the Third Battalion unit, which is entrusted for taking a prisoner out of jail and go back to the prison.