Who Are the Kachcha Banyan Gang, That Inspired ‘Delhi Crime 2’?

'Delhi Crime' season 2 stars Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, and Rajesh Tailang.

Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime season 2.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Netflix dropped the second season of Delhi Crime on 26 August. Like the first season, the second was also based on real-life incidents: that of the notorious kachcha banyan gang (or kachchha banyan or kacha baniyan or chaddi banyan gang among other similar names).

What Do We Know About Them?

Like their name suggests, the kachcha banyan gang would consist of people who wore only undergarments to commit robberies and would often also murder the residents of the houses they’d loot. The robbers were known to apply oil on their bodies to evade capture in case of a pursuit.

In his book, ‘Khaki Files: Inside Stories of Police Missions,’ former Commissioner of Delhi Police Neeraj Kumar wrote of the gang, “Before setting out they removed their clothes, left them at the predetermined meeting point and then set out in their ‘kachchha banyan’ (undergarments)."

"They usually applied oil on their bodies to make them slippery so that getting hold of them would be difficult. They tied stones to their waists, which could be used to attack police parties when chased. The leader of the gang usually carried a daulatiya.”

Where Did They Operate From?

They would often attack in groups of 5-10 and often at night. The first case Kumar mentions in his book is from May 1990 in Delhi.

Later, in 1999 The Tribune reported a suspected kachcha banyan attack and a Hindustan Times article from August 2000 reported that a gang assumed to be the kachcha banyan gang attacked labourers in Haryana. In 2000, several other suspected attacks were reported in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and some in Maharashtra.

What Happens in ‘Delhi Crime’ 2?

In a story inspired by the kachcha banyan gang, Shefali Shah plays DCP Vartika who is leading the investigation against people committing brutal murders and robberies in senior citizens’ homes in Delhi.

The investigation also delves into the effect of policing on minority communities as one police officer rounds up people from a de-notified tribe (DNT) only because he generalises them as ‘born criminals’.

Vartika must then choose between her conscience and her senior’s orders when it comes to solving the crimes. Read our review of the show here.