Gurgaon: Police have unearthed a local criminal network working for gangsters Deepak Nandal, who was allegedly behind the Sushant Lok firings earlier this year, and Himanshu Bhau, arresting seven men and recovering four pistols, 18 live cartridges and six mobile phones. Police said the weapons were smuggled from Pakistan using drones. A hawala operator from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, Gaurav Arora, was also taken into custody. He allegedly helped route crime proceeds to gang members.The gang operating across Haryana and Delhi-NCR targeted builders, businessmen, music artists and those associated with Bollywood for extortion, acting on instructions from the gangsters who are abroad, said ACP (crime) Lalit Dalal.The gang had conducted reconnaissance of a businessman in Sector 38. Police said the businessman is a relative of the fashion designer from whom Deepak Nandal gang had allegedly demanded Rs 5 crore before firing a shot outside his office on Golf Course Road in Feb. Before the gang could execute its plan, the crime branch team from Sector 40 unit, led by SI Lalit, arrested the seven men.The local network handled different stages of the operations, including identifying targets, conducting recce of their homes and offices, arranging weapons and facilitating the delivery of extortion money. They also used social media to claim responsibility for crimes, create fear and project the gang’s influence, according to police.Investigators found that Sandeep, Balwinder alias Sonu Nandal, Yogesh alias Kachhua and Shubham Sikka, along with their associates, also supplied mobile numbers of businessmen to the gang.The probe has also revealed hawala operator from Chandni Chowk transferred around Rs 3 lakh to the gang. A half currency note, allegedly used in hawala transactions, was recovered from him. According to police, Rs 10 note had been torn into two halves as part of the hawala mechanism. One half was given to Arora, while the other was kept by the person receiving the money. Police said the matching halves were used to verify the identity of the person involved in the transaction and facilitate delivery of funds.Investigators said Nandal and Bhau remain in contact with the local network through social media applications and continue to coordinate criminal activities. Their financial transactions, digital contacts and links with other associates are being scrutinised.The gang members have been identified as Yogesh alias Kachhua Subham Sikka from Kamla Nagar, Sandeep Hooda of Preet Vihar, Rohit alias Shakti of Maina, Balwinder alias Sonu of Nandal, Surjeet of Makdoli . All are from Rohtak, while Arora is a resident of Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. Police said they are between 30 and 35 years old.“The accused have a substantial criminal record. Yogesh has eight cases registered against him in Delhi and Haryana, including cases of assault, criminal intimidation, theft and violations of the Arms Act. Sandeep has two cases registered in Rohtak for murder and violations of the Arms Act, while Rohit faces two cases in Rohtak involving murder, attempt to murder and Arms Act offences,” ACP Dalal said.Balwinder has 17 cases registered against him in Haryana, including murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping and violations of Arms Act, NDPS Act and Prison Act.Police said the accused collectively face around two dozen criminal cases. The recovered mobile phones and other digital evidence are being examined to identify additional members, financial transactions, criminal activities and contacts with gang leaders operating from abroad.Chandigarh Police also busted an interstate criminal network linked to gangster Nandal with the arrest of four suspects on Tuesday. According to police, they were on their way to Gurgaon to carry out a firing and extortion bid targeting a businessman in Sector 38. Police recovered a Turkish Zigana pistol and two Chinese PX-3 pistols, along with two magazines and 19 live cartridges. An arms supplier from Amritsar was also arrested, police said.Ajay (19), Rohit (18), and Dev (18), all residents of Jind in Haryana, were arrested from Sector 31 in Chandigarh during checking. Investigators later arrested Nishan Singh (32), a resident of Kakkar in Amritsar, who is suspected of supplying weapons to the gang.Police said Nishan maintained contact with an arms supplier based in Pakistan and received weapons that were dropped by drones in fields in Punjab. The weapons were then collected and transported to gang members, an officer said.