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Sector 15 double murder: RPG attack accused shot the victims, say Chandigarh Police
Deepal Ranga, 23, a resident of Surakpur in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Uttar Pradesh in January for the RPG attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022
Over two months after a court acquitted all four accused in the 2019 double murder, where two college students were shot dead in Sector 15, after police failed to prove the allegations, Chandigarh Police claim Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the Mohali RPG attack last year, is the one who fired at the victims.
Ranga, 23, a resident of Surakpur in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Uttar Pradesh in January for the RPG attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022.
Probing into the Sector 15 double murder and the infamous 2019 Sonu Shah murder cases, Chandigarh Police identified Ranga’s role and brought him from Amritsar Central Jail on production warrant last week.
The victims in the Sector-15 double murder were Jind natives Ajay, a final-year BSc student at SD College, Sector 32, and Vineet, a BSc final-year student at Post-Graduate Government College, Sector 11. Both were in their early 20s and associated with the Hindustan Student Association.
On the night of December 18, 2019, the two friends were home around 10.15 pm, when four armed men had barged in, enquiring about Ashu Nain, a final-year BA student at DAV College, Sector 10. When the duo expressed ignorance about Nain’s whereabouts, the assailants had fired 21 shots and fled, as per their friend and complainant Mohit Punia. Having suffered multiple bullet wounds, the victims had later succumbed at PGIMER.
According to police, Nain had left the second-floor rented accommodation merely a few moments before the attack.
Over three years later, in February, 2023, a Chandigarh court had acquitted Ankit Narwal, a former DAV College student leader; Sunil, alias Sheelu, a BA student at a Panipat college; Vicky, alias Kalu, and Amit after police failed to prove their role in the double murder.
Got ₹2 lakh to eliminate Ashu Nain
As per police investigation, Ranga used to eliminate targets on the directions of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Raju Basodi.
“In the Sector-15 case, he got ₹2 lakh from Basodi to eliminate Ashu Nain as his friend Ankit Narwal had an enmity with Nain. Ranga, along with Ankit Narwal, Sunil, Kalu and Amit, entered Nain’s room in Sector 15 and opened fire. But Nain had already left and his two friends, Ajay and Vineet, became collateral damage,” a senior police officer said.
Was also paid to eliminate realtor Sonu Shah
Chandigarh Police have also arrested Ranga for the murder of property dealer Rajvir Singh, alias Sonu Shah, who was shot dead at his office in Burail in September 2019.
Police said Ranga was hired by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to eliminate Shah for a few thousand bucks. “Ranga was around 19 back then and new to the world of crime. He didn’t shoot at Shah, but fired in the air while escaping,” a senior police officer shared. Ranga, along with Rajan, Manjit Mota, Subham Bigni and Abhishek, executed the murder.
As per investigators, in July 2021, Ranga, along with three accomplices, killed Rana Kondowalia at KD Hospital, Amritsar. He eventually came in contact with terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda, and on his direction murdered one Sanjay Biyani in Nanded, Maharastra.
After the RPG attack in May 2022, he escaped to Nepal, where he got married to a Nepalese woman. All his expenses were borne by Rinda. He was eventually arrested by NIA after his return to India.
