Himanshu Bhau, a Haryana gangster who figures on the most-wanted lists of the Delhi Police, Haryana Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has been taken into custody in the United States after Indian agencies tracked him to Las Vegas, according to sources in Indian security agencies. An NIA source said the arrest was made on Thursday evening, ending a hunt that began when he fled India in 2022.
There has been no formal statement yet from Indian or US authorities. Sources quoted in several reports said Indian agencies are now working with their US counterparts to have him sent back, and that a team of senior officers is likely to travel to the US to complete the paperwork.
How he was traced
An NIA source said his location was pinned down through technical surveillance and human intelligence, and the coordinates were then passed on to US law enforcement. Teams from the Delhi and Haryana police had been working to trace him. Interpol issued a Red Notice against him in August 2023 at India’s request. Such a notice asks member countries to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition, but it is not an arrest warrant on its own.
Another fugitive, Neeraj Faridpuria, was also reportedly picked up in the US. He is said to work with Punjab’s Bambiha gang, a rival of the Lawrence Bishnoi network, and had been on the run after removing an ankle tracker following his detention and release on bail earlier this year.
From a Rohtak village to a gang run from abroad
Bhau, whose real name is Himanshu Ritoliya, comes from Ritoli village in Rohtak district and is in his early twenties. Investigators say he first came on police records as a teenager in 2020, was sent to a juvenile home in Hisar and escaped from it. He then allegedly teamed up with established gangs, including Neeraj Bawana’s, before building his own network across Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhunjhunu and Delhi-NCR.
Police say he left India in 2022 on a passport obtained with forged papers in another name, travelling first to the UAE and then to Europe, and ran his gang largely from Portugal. Investigators suspect he reached the US through an irregular route in late 2024 or early 2025. When the Red Notice was issued, police said he was wanted in 18 cases, including murder, attempted murder, extortion and forgery.
Why it matters for Delhi-NCR
Investigators have linked the gang to some of the capital region’s most brazen recent attacks: a killing at a fast-food outlet in Rajouri Garden, rounds fired at car showrooms in Naraina and Tilak Nagar, firing outside YouTuber Elvish Yadav’s home, and extortion threats to builders and traders. According to investigators, the gang recruited young shooters through social media and used firing outside homes and businesses to pressure people who refused to pay.
Haryana Police has said around 80 criminal gangs are active in the state, naming the Bhau and Faridpuria gangs among the major ones.
What happens next
Any transfer to India will depend on the US legal process, which could be deportation or extradition. Once he is handed over, the Delhi and Haryana police are expected to seek his custody in the pending cases, starting with the murder and extortion cases in the capital region.
