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Bhupi Rana gang member shot dead in Ambala Cantonment
Gang war with Lawrence Bishnoi group spills out on Ambala streets; associate critically injured; indiscriminate firing caught on camera outside school on busy Jagadhari road
A Mohali resident, said to be a member of the Bhupi Rana gang, was shot dead in broad daylight near DAV Public School on the busy Ambala-Jagadhari road in Ambala Cantonment on Thursday.
The victim, identified as Mohit Rana, was a resident of Khelan village, Dera Bassi, Mohali district, and currently living in Sadar Bazaar in Ambala Cantonment.
His associate, Vishal, alias Bhola, also of Sadar Bazaar, was also critically injured in the firing.
The daring shooting was captured on a roadside CCTV camera, which showed the victims’ black Hyundai Verna (PB65-AU-8688) coming from Ambala and halting near the school to take a turn around 4.50pm, when a white Ford EcoSport (DL01-CC-7401), which was following them, blocked their way.
Two assailants got out of the SUV and fired at least 20 shots at point-blank range, killing Mohit, who was driving the car, and injuring Vishal, who was taken to the sub-divisional civil hospital in Ambala Cantt by police.
Dr Tulit Chhabra, from the hospital, said, “Mohit was brought dead. The autopsy will be conducted on Friday by a board of doctors, while Vishal, who was seriously injured with at least 10 bullets on the right side, was referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh.”
Murder fallout of old enmity: Police
Superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said as per initial inputs, the murder was fallout of a gangwar between Kala Rana and Bhupi Rana gangs due to enmity in an old case.
“Mohit was a prime witness in the August 2014 murder of his associate Mohammad Mushtaq. Though Mohit had taken ₹12 lakh from the Kala Rana gang not to testify against its members before the court, several were convicted in the case. The gang had asked Mohit to return the money, but he didn’t. He was attacked recently and finally killed. Kala Rana is said to be operating from Thailand,” the police official said.
One of the convicts in Mushtaq’s murder, gangster Shamsher Singh, alias Monu Rana, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to police, Mushtaq, a resident of Bhabat village in Mohali, was a member of the Bhupi Rana gang and was killed by the Monu Rana gang.
A case under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act has been registered against the unidentified assailants at the Mahesh Nagar police station on the complaint of Mohit’s brother Subhash Rana.
Bishnoi gang takes responsibility on FB
Soon after the incident, a Facebook post by Lawrence Bishnoi gang member Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for the murder.
Through the post, Brar claimed to have executed the “double murder” in Ambala on Thursday with his brother Kala Rana. The gangster wrote that Mohit was supporting another group and was also a witness in a case against them.
The daylight shooting comes almost a year after two gangsters affiliated with the Bhupi Rana gang were shot dead in a similar manner at Ambala City’s Kalka Chowk on March 25, 2021.
Police had established that it was a case of mistaken identity, where Devinder Bambiha gang members killed their own associates, while the actual targets from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang managed to escape.
Victim himself a history-sheeter
According to a senior police official from Dera Bassi, the victim, Mohit Rana, was a notorious gangster, who was involved in more than 15 criminal cases, including extortion and kidnapping. Most of these were registered in Haryana.
“He was previously lodged in Ambala jail, then in Kurukshetra jail and had recently come out on bail. He worked with the rivals of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang,” the official added.
Mohit’s brother Subash Rana told the Ambala police that his younger brother was preparing to shift to the USA and his visa documents were ready.
