A day after Lawrence Bishnoi’s aide and former student leader Gurlal Brar was shot dead outside a mall in Chandigarh, a Facebook page in the jailed gangster’s name threatened a bloodshed on streets, while another of his aides, Monty Shah, was booked for making a murder bid on a rival in Burail on Sunday night.
A case was registered against Monty Shah on Monday on the complaint of his cousin Praveen Shah and bouncer Tirath, who are both witnesses in the murder case of property dealer Rajveer, alias Sonu Shah, who was shot dead at his office in Burail, Sector 45, on September 28 last year. According to the chargesheet filed in January, Bishnoi was the one who had ordered the hit.
According to the police complaint, Tirath spotted Monty Shah approaching his office holding two pistols on Sunday night. Tirath then ran inside the office where Praveen was also present, and they hid themselves.
CCTV footage shows that later, Monty returned to his vehicle, in which two more people were waiting for him.
Though the footage also showed Monty brandishing weapons, police have found no evidence of firing yet. However, a case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code besides the Arms Act has been registered at the Sector-34 police station.
Praveen, who is Sonu Shah’s brother, and Tirath in their complaint to police alleged that Monty wanted to eliminate them as they are main witnesses in the property dealer’s murder in which Bishnoi is the main accused. After Sonu’s murder, Praveen had even demanded police protection.
{{/usCountry}}Praveen, who is Sonu Shah’s brother, and Tirath in their complaint to police alleged that Monty wanted to eliminate them as they are main witnesses in the property dealer’s murder in which Bishnoi is the main accused. After Sonu’s murder, Praveen had even demanded police protection.
{{/usCountry}}“As of now, we are looking into personal enmity angle owing to business rivalry. Our prime focus is to arrest Monty,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police, Chandigarh.
However, senior police officials privy to the case said the gang war angle cannot be ruled out though it is too early to say anything.
‘Rules of the game have changed’
Meanwhile, on Monday, a post shared on a Facebook page in the name of Lawrence Bishnoi threatened retaliation for Gurlal Brar’s murder. HT could not independently verify antecedents of those running the social media page.
Brar, 26, former state president of the Students’ Organisation of Panjab University, was gunned down in his Toyota Fortuner SUV after he came out of Playboy Nightclub at City Emporium Mall in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
Three motorcycle borne assailants had fired at Brar, known to be Bishnoi’s close associate. Soon after, slain gangster Davinder Bambiha’s group took to social media, owning responsibility for the killing “to avenge” the murder of their associate Lavi Deora at a fair in Faridkot’s Kotkapura in 2017, in which Brar had reportedly played an active role.
The Facebook post, which also carried a photograph of Brar with Bishnoi, declared the beginning of a “new war”, while issuing a warning to those who are “not with us”. The post in Hindi then went on issue threats of a bloodshed on the streets, adding that the “rules of the game have changed”. Another post shared on behalf of Bishnoi’s aide Bhola Shooter carried the picture of Brar’s dead body and warned the perpetrators of retaliation.
“We are verifying the veracity of these threats,” said SSP Chahal, adding that police have got some leads in Brar’s murder case.
The shooters are yet to be identified, though an abandoned motorcycle has been recovered from near the Transport light point. Police are verifying whether it is the same motorcycle used in the crime that took place just one-and-a-half kilometre away. Brar’s postmortem has been conducted, though the details are awaited. According to initial reports, he had received six bullet wounds on the head, chest, neck and arm.