A police officer investigating the case said, “Having gained access to the property in minutes, Ponty drove off to fetch one of his friends, an Uttarakhand government official, to act as a mediator. But an agitated Hardeep rushed to the spot and called his lawyer for advice.”
The brothers, each accompanied by a dozen Punjab Police guards, finally came face-to-face outside the farmhouse around 12.15pm. Arguments turned ugly and Hardeep reportedly drew first blood, shooting his elder brother in the chest.
But he got shot later in a pitched gunbattle between his and Ponty’s guards.
At least 40 rounds were fired from three different kinds of licensed weapons, including an AK-47. Initial medical examination of both brothers revealed that Ponty took 15 bullets — six of them in the chest — while Hardeep was shot four times.