She came, she saw, she conquered: 'Godmother' of crime lands in police net

New Delhi: Women in her age are most commonly seen spending time with their grandchildren and deeply involved in prayers. However, 63-year-old Basiran, notorious as 'Godmother' in Sangam Vihar area of south Delhi, she was as feared as she was dangerous.

The criminal mastermind, who was arrested early on Saturday, was ranked among the top five most wanted women criminals by Delhi Police.

Along with her eight sons, Basiran had 113 cases registered against her family.

Sources say that with her arrest, crime graph in the area could see a substantial fall, and its effects are already visible.

In the early eighties, Basiran and her husband travelled to Delhi, where they decided to settle. Initially residing in the Navjeevan Camp jhuggis in south Delhi's Govindpuri area, she got fed up of the locality and moved to Sangam Vihar in the nineties.

With no permanent source of income, she soon entered the grey market of Delhi and began selling illicit liquor. Being a woman, her name started doing round in the market and customers believed her to be trustworthy. There was no looking back for Basiran since then.

Criminals and mafiosos in the area called 'Mammi' and soon all her eight sons began threatening locals in the area to control power, eventually having cases registered against themselves.

Basiran's son Shamin has 42 cases registered against his name, including robbery, dacoity, extortion and murder.

Among her other sons, Shakil has 15, Wakil has 13 Rahul Khan has three, Faizan and Sunny have nine cases each and Salman has two. Basiran herself has nine cases against her name, police said.

Cops also confirmed her role in a case in 2017, where a man was murdered and his body burnt in nearby jungles to conceal his identity. Investigation later revealed that Basiran was behind the contract killing of the man.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Romil Baaniya said, "When she established her dominance in the area, with the help of her criminal's sons, she captured government water borewells in the locality and started selling water for easy money. A total of 113 criminal cases are registered against her and her family members.

"She was absconding for the last eight months and hiding in Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Mainpuri and Firozabad," he added.