Dichaon Kalan

History

The village has historical background as the United States President Richard Nixon paid a visit to this less known village in 1969. The village was also declared a Model Village. The old timers relate this with its so called real name- Dev Uvach which means, from the mouth of Gods. The village has been in the news due to its musclemen. It looks like a prosperous village as the presence of the neo-riches is dominant. Further, the DDA and other agencies have been involved in taking up a number of projects around this village.

Starting in 1992, Dichaon Kalan and its neighbouring village Mitraon (or Mitraun) became a battleground for criminal gangs operating out of Delhi.

Dichaon Kalan is the stronghold of Kishan Pahalwan's gang, while Mitraun was the stronghold of its rival Anoop-Balraj gang. Annop and Balraj were sons of Surat Kane, a well-known gangster of the 1990s. When Kane tried to grab a piece of land from the local landlord Balwan Fauji, the latter hired Kishan Pahalwan to fight with Kane's gang. Balraj and Kishan were once friends, but a property dispute led to a bitter conflict between the two, in which a number of people lost their lives. The roots of the conflict go to 1992, when Kishan Pahalwan of Dichaon Kalan and Anoop-Balraj gang of Mitraon fought over a civic contract. After committing a murder to avenge the killing of his uncle Rohtash, Pahalwan was arrested in 1992, but released five years later. During his stay in the prison, he formed a criminal gang.

As property rates in the NCR region rose, criminals from both the villages entered into the business of property dealing and tender grabbing. Pahalwan became close to Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the ruling party in the neighbouring state of Haryana. Between 1996 and 1998, when a prohibition was in effect in Haryana, Pahalwan bootlegging business made him rich and powerful. Subsequently, Pahalwan started eliminating his rivals. Pahalwan's gang killed Balraj in 1998. Pahalwan was arrested that year, but released. Balraj's brother Anoop tried to reach a compromise with Pahalwan's gang, but was unsuccessful. He then started killing Pahalwan's men, and Pahalwan fled to Australia. In September 1999, Anoop's gang shot dead Pahalwan's 22-year old brother Kuldeep. In retaliation, Anoop's 19-year old nephew Yash Pal was killed by Pahalwan's gang on the same day. Pahalwan returned to India in 2003, and was arrested by the Delhi police before being released. Anoop's henchmen made several attempts to kill him. In 2004, Pahalwan's gang killed Anoop and two police officers as Anoop was being brought to a Rohtak court. Subsequently, most of other members of the Anoop-Balraj gang were also killed.

Kishan Pahalwan then entered politics. In 2007, his brother Bharat Singh won the municipal polls from the Dichaon Kalan ward, and became a councillor. In 2008, Bharat Singh was elected as an INLD MLA to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Pahalwan then filled the seat vacated by his brother; his wife Neelam was also elected a councillor. Bharat Singh was involved in the land-grabbing business, and took advantage of the real estate boom in the NCR region. He acquired several disputed properties, sometimes creating a dispute where there was none. Pahalwan was arrested again in 2009; by this time, he had 27 murder cases against him.

Meanwhile, newer gangsters challenged Kishan-Bharat gang, in an attempt to control the extortion and property-related business in the area. One of these was the local criminal Udayveer alias Kaale, whose father and brother had allegedly been killed at the behest of Kishan Pahalwan. In 2012, Bharat Singh allegedly tried to grab a piece of land owned by the kin of another gangster Vicky. Subsequently, a group of eight gunmen tried to kill Bharat Singh in his office, but he escaped. The attack was allegedly ordered by Vicky and Kaale. Singh lost a kidney and spent two months in the hospital. Singh lost the 2013 Assembly election, and started focusing on his property business. In 2015, following a property dispute with Vikas Lagapuria, he was murdered by over six armed men. Kaale and three others were arrested for the murder.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Dichaon Kalan has a population of 27,255, including 14,553 males and 12,702 females. The village has 5172 households. The literacy rate of the village is 74.48%.

Dichaon Kalan is a Jat-dominated village inhabited by people belonging to the following gotras: Shokeen, Shokhanda, Tehlan, Sangwan, Dagar. Scheduled caste people comprise 14.37% of the village's population.

Economy

Some of villagers are property dealers. 75% of the population of this village is involved in farming. They dedicate 9 to 10 months of a year to produce various types of cauliflower like Madhuri, Aganya etc. to fulfill almost 95% of the consumption of this vegetable in the city.

For more than 60 years the village sends fleets of trucks loaded with cauliflower everyday to the wholesale markets or mandis. This village grows 98% of total cauliflower in Delhi. All this has earned the village the name- Gobhi Wala Gaon.

Important Places and Service Providers in Dichaon Kalan