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Top 10 Gangsters of Gautam Budh Nagar: The Rise and Fall of Western UP’s Most Feared Mafia Networks

Gautam Budh Nagar has seen several notorious gangs whose activities in extortion, land‑grabbing and contract killings have shaped the crime landscape of western Uttar Pradesh and the NCR region. This article profiles ten prominent gangsters associated with the district, focusing on their criminal history and the law‑enforcement response, rather than glorifying crime.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Note: All details are based on court records and credible media reports; many cases are still sub judice, and the presumption of innocence applies until conviction.

1. Sundar Bhati

Sundar Bhati, originally from Ghanghola village in Greater Noida, is considered one of western UP’s most feared mafia figures and the head of the Bhati gang. He entered crime in the 1990s and rose to prominence through scrap‑metal contracts, extortion from industrial units in Noida–Greater Noida, and violent gang wars with rival leader Naresh Bhati.^[2]^[5]

Over the years, he accumulated dozens of serious cases, including multiple murders, attempts to murder, dacoity, kidnapping, and organized extortion across Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr and Faridabad. In the Harendra Pradhan murder case (2015), the Gautam Budh Nagar sessions court sentenced him and 11 accomplices to life imprisonment, marking one of the strongest judicial actions against his network.^[6]^[5]^[7]^[2]

2. Anil Dujana (Anil Nagar)

Anil Nagar, better known as Anil Dujana, hailed from Dujana village under Badalpur police station in Gautam Budh Nagar and became a central figure in organized crime across western UP and the Delhi‑NCR. Police records show over 60–62 cases against him, including 18 murder cases, as well as charges under the Gangsters Act, Goonda Act and National Security Act for extortion, land‑grabbing, robberies and armed violence.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Even while lodged in jail after a 2011 triple‑murder case, he continued to run a gang with the help of associates like Randeep Bhati and Amit Kasana, orchestrating conspiracies for murder and extortion from behind bars. In May 2023, the Uttar Pradesh STF killed him in an encounter near Meerut after he allegedly opened fire on the police; he had been listed among the state’s “most‑wanted” gangsters and top criminals from Gautam Budh Nagar.^[10]^[3]^[8]

3. Naresh Bhati

Naresh Bhati emerged from the Gurjar‑Bhati criminal ecosystem and was once a key figure in Satbir Gurjar’s gang before leading his own faction. Over time he transitioned into local politics, becoming chairman of the Gautam Budh Nagar zila panchayat, which gave his group considerable influence in contracts and local disputes.^[11]^[2]

His rivalry with his former associate Sundar Bhati triggered a prolonged gang war over scrap‑metal and extortion contracts, claiming more than a dozen lives from both sides in less than a decade. That conflict culminated when he was shot dead in 2003–2004 in an attack attributed to the Sundar Bhati faction, a killing repeatedly referenced in subsequent police and media accounts of Bhati‑gang violence.^[2]^[11]

4. Anil Bhati

Anil Bhati, nephew of gangster Sundar Bhati, has been described by police and media as a key extortion operator for the Bhati network in Noida and Greater Noida. Reports show he moved around in a bullet‑proof Fortuner and ran a large extortion pipeline that siphoned money from everyday transactions like parking fees, as well as from industrialists and real‑estate contracts.^[12]^[13]

He is an accused in the murder of BJP worker Shiv Kumar, where the conspiracy was allegedly executed using shooters from the Sundar Bhati gang, leading to his detention under the National Security Act due to perceived threats to public order. In addition to that case, police have booked him in other matters of extortion and criminal intimidation, and he has periodically been in and out of custody, including recent references as part of the combined “Sundar Bhati–Anil Bhati” gang.^[13]^[14]^[12]

5. Amit Kasana

Amit Kasana is widely noted as a prominent member—and at times de facto leader—of the Randeep Bhati “Rithori” gang, active across Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and parts of Delhi. Official records and news reports indicate he faces around 27–30 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, criminal conspiracy and evidence‑tampering, registered in multiple police stations of Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Delhi.^[15]^[16]^[17]

The Uttar Pradesh government has formally identified him as a mafia figure, leading to aggressive economic action: Gautam Buddh Nagar police attached “ill‑gotten” immovable properties—houses and shops—worth over 17.23 crore rupees in his name under Section 14(1) of the UP Gangsters Act. Courts in Gautam Budh Nagar have sentenced him to imprisonment in different cases, and he has remained a focus of ongoing crackdowns on organized crime.^[16]^[18]^[17]^[15]

6. Randeep Bhati

Randeep Bhati, from Gautam Budh Nagar, is another major mafia name frequently bracketed with Sundar Bhati and Anil Dujana as one of western UP’s leading gang leaders. His gang is associated with extortion, “supari” killings, illegal mining, land‑grabbing and violent enforcement of territorial control in Greater Noida and adjoining districts.^[19]^[20]^[3]^[21]

In the high‑profile 2013 murder of Samajwadi Party leader Chaman Bhati in Dabra village, the Gautam Budh Nagar court sentenced Randeep and three co‑accused to life imprisonment, noting that they already faced over two dozen serious cases, including murder and attempt to murder. Multiple gang members and shooters linked to his network have been arrested with illegal arms and vehicles in recent operations, indicating continued law‑enforcement attention on dismantling his group’s activities.^[22]^[19]

7. Ravi Kana (Ravi Nagar / Ravindra Singh)

Scrap‑dealer Ravi Nagar, popularly known as Ravi Kana, is described by police as a “scrap mafia” and local strongman whose operations centred on illegal scrap trade and coercive extortion. His gang allegedly intercepted trucks carrying TMT bars and construction steel, diverting material through collusion with drivers and threatening business owners to monopolize scrap contracts at artificially low rates.^[4]^[23]^[24]^[25]

He faces cases including gang‑rape at a Noida mall’s parking area, extortion under section 386 IPC, criminal conspiracy and cheating, along with proceedings under the UP Gangsters and Anti‑Social Activities (Prevention) Act; police estimate that his scrap business grew illegally by around 97 percent in three years. In 2025, Gautam Buddha Nagar Police arrested him and his partner Kajal Jha at Delhi airport following deportation from Thailand, and his properties worth around 100 crore rupees were sealed, while subsequent orders transferred him from Noida jail to Banda jail for administrative reasons.^[26]^[24]^[25]^[4]

8. Ankit Gurjar

Ankit Gurjar is identified as a “dreaded gangster” and key member of the Sundar Bhati gang, with a police record of around 14 cases, including at least three murder cases and multiple extortion offences. He was one of the prime suspects in the killing of BJP leader Vijay Pandit, which drew state‑level attention and high rewards on information about his whereabouts.^[27]^[2]

After earlier escape episodes—such as slipping away from police during transit from Maharajganj to Surajpur court—he was eventually shot in the leg and arrested in an encounter at Milak Lacchi village in Greater Noida’s Bisrakh area, where police recovered firearms and a car. His arrest was presented by Gautam Budh Nagar police as a significant blow to the operational strength of the Bhati gang.^[27]

9. Manoj Ase (Manoj Imalia alias “Aase”)

Manoj Imalia, commonly called Manoj Ase, is counted among Uttar Pradesh’s “top 65” mafia figures and has repeatedly been listed by the state in the category of most‑wanted gangsters from Gautam Budh Nagar. Police describe him as a rival of Sundar Bhati and a specialist in factory‑level extortion and contract killings, with nearly two dozen cases including murder, attempt to murder, rioting, rape, attacks on police parties and Gangsters Act charges.^[28]^[29]

In April 2023, Greater Noida police and the district SWAT team arrested him and an accomplice after a gunfight along the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, noting that he carried a bounty of 1 lakh rupees. Subsequent reports detail further arrests of his gang members and emphasize that his inclusion in the UP mafia list has made his network a sustained target of the Commissionerate’s anti‑organized‑crime campaign.^[29]^[30]^[28]

10. Ravindra Bhati (Ravindra @ Ravi Bhati)

Ravindra @ Ravi Bhati appears in judicial records as an accused under sections 2/3 of the UP Gangsters and Anti‑Social Activities (Prevention) Act in a case registered at Beta‑2 police station, Gautam Budh Nagar. The Allahabad High Court’s bail order in 2022 released him on conditions that he would not tamper with evidence and would refrain from further criminal activity, reflecting typical supervisory safeguards applied in Gangsters Act matters.^[31]

Separately, reports in the Harendra Pradhan murder litigation mention members of the Bhati gang allegedly pressuring a relative named Ravindra to withdraw complaints, illustrating how gang‑linked intimidation often extends beyond direct participants to family and witnesses. While public media reporting on Ravindra Bhati is relatively limited compared to the other names on this list, his presence in Gangsters Act proceedings anchors him within the broader Bhati‑gang framework in Gautam Budh Nagar.^[7]^[31]

Law‑Enforcement and Legal Response in Gautam Budh Nagar

Across these ten figures, a clear pattern emerges: intensive use of special statutes like the UP Gangsters Act and NSA, repeated attachment and confiscation of “ill‑gotten” properties, and targeted encounters and arrests by STF and Commissionerate police units. District courts at Surajpur have awarded life imprisonment in several high‑profile gang‑murder cases, signalling the judiciary’s willingness to impose strong sentences where evidence supports organized‑crime charges.^[25]^[1]^[16]^[7]^[22]

For legal writing and policy analysis, Gautam Budh Nagar offers a rich case study on how organized crime evolves around scrap, real‑estate and industrial contracts, and how statutory tools—Gangsters Act, NSA, property‑attachment provisions and regular IPC offences—are being deployed to restrain criminal networks and protect witnesses.^[23]^[16]^[25]