Delhi Burger King hit job: How 'mystery girl' Anu rose in ranks of Himanshu Bhau's gang

NEW DELHI: Street-smart, talkative, and tech-savvy—these traits proved invaluable for Anu as she ascended the ranks within Himanshu Bhau's gang, notorious for the audacious murder of Aman Joon at a Burger King outlet in Delhi last week.
According to reports, during the shootout where 38 bullets were pumped into Aman Joon, the enigmatic Anu remained remarkably composed.She even slipped Aman's phone into her pocket and escaped from the scene alongside the two shooters.
Interestingly, it was Anu who lured Aman through one of her Instagram accounts, arranging their meeting at the Rajouri Garden eatery where the murder took place.
CCTV footage showed her calmly fiddling with Aman's phone as the two shooters sat silently, waiting for the right moment to carry out the hit.
According to a report, Anu hails from Rohtak district in Haryana. She is currently facing several criminal charges, including an alleged extortion attempt on a well-known sweetshop owner in Haryana—a case that also purportedly involved Himanshu Bhau.
Following the hit job at the Burger King outlet, the Delhi Crime Branch team visited her home in Rohtak and the PG accommodation she had been staying in for the past few days in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar to prepare for competitive exams, an officer reported. She had used a fake Aadhar card to secure the accommodation in Mukherjee Nagar, the officer added.
Police revealed that Anu is a psychology graduate and had consistently good grades in school.
Hunt on for 'mystery girl' Anu
Investigators suspect that Anu, along with the shooters identified as Ashish and Vicky, may be attempting to escape the country with Bhau's assistance.
The west district police's technical investigation has uncovered that Anu created a fake Instagram account under the name Preeti to connect with Joon. She managed at least 15 accounts on the platform, all under different names, suggesting that she might be targeting others on Bhau's orders. Bhau had previously claimed on Instagram that more targets were lined up and would be eliminated one by one.
Anu returned to her paying guest accommodation in northwest Delhi within an hour of the murder and was captured on CCTV cameras at various locations. When the police arrived at her PG in Mukherjee Nagar, they discovered that she had already left, claiming a family emergency. The PG owner was instructed to give her security deposit to a friend.
Although Anu's surname is Dhankad, she is known only by her first name. Her family had previously filed a habeas corpus writ in court when she went missing, but it was later revealed that she had joined Bhau's syndicate.
The CCTV footage from inside the restaurant shows Anu tampering with Joon's phone while the two shooters position themselves at a table directly behind them.
One of the shooters abruptly stands up and begins firing from behind, causing Joon to run for cover towards the billing counter.
Anu remains surprisingly calm and exits the restaurant along with other customers as the shooters pursue Joon, firing indiscriminately in a crowded restaurant, narrowly avoiding a tragedy. After leaving the outlet, Anu is seen going to the nearby metro station, taking a train to Azadpur, changing trains, and finally disembarking at GTB Nagar metro station. The footage shows her negotiating with an autorickshaw driver and requesting to be taken to Kashmere Gate ISBT, according to an inspector.
Anu gives cops the slip in Jammu
Delhi Police narrowly missed apprehending Anu at Katra station in Jammu. She managed to board the last coach of a Mumbai-bound train, possibly heading to Goa or nearby areas to meet shooters Ashish and Vicky, with the intention of fleeing the country.

Anu, who lured the target, Aman Joon, to the restaurant on June 18, fled to Jammu that night and stayed at a guest house in Katra the following day. CCTV footage from the station shows her hastily walking across the platform, carrying a trolley bag and a backpack, wearing a neon green top, black trousers, and a scarf. She managed to board the Bombay Swaraj Express just as it started moving at 10.06am on June 20.
Gangsters of north India are increasingly using women during operations against their targets. The kingpins fish for women on social media who are fascinated with crime and criminals and then induct them into the syndicate, investigators said. Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates were were the first to start this trend, leveraging their popularity on social media to identify and recruit women who could contribute to the gang's operations. Bishnoi's rival, Himanshu Bhau, has now followed suit by employing Anu in his criminal activities.