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Jammu gangster gunned down outside Mohali mall stayed in Kharar hotel for two days
Police investigation revealed that gangster Rajesh Dogra had reached the city with one of his associates, Rajiv alias Bunty, on Friday and stayed in a Kharar hotel
Jammu gangster Rajesh Dogra who was on Monday gunned down outside a Sector-67 mall had stayed in a Kharar hotel for two days and had come to site of firing to meet a friend, officials probing the murder said.
The investigation further revealed that Dogra had reached the city with one of his associates, Rajiv alias Bunty, on Friday and stayed in a Kharar hotel. Another aide, Dalbir reached the city on Saturday.
Dogra, whose autopsy report showed the presence of 11 bullets in his body, was to leave for Delhi with a friend, Raja, also a notorious gangster in Jammu, who police suspect to have orchestrated the murder.
“Raja also wished to travel to Delhi with Dogra and was supposed to meet him on Sunday, but didn’t do so and the deceased was resultantly forced to extend his stay in the city by a day,” an investigator said, adding that Dogra has used his original identity card to check-in
Dogra checked out of the hotel on Monday and reached the Mall in a Mahindra Scorpio car bearing a Jammu number along with Bunty and Dalbir to meet Raja.
“Raja, who was in touch with Dogra over the phone and had access to his live location, was waiting outside the mall in his Maruti Brezza car bearing an HP number. After parking his car outside the mall, Dogra walked towards Raja. When they both shook hands, four other assailants who reached there in two cars — a Hyundai Creta with a Jammu and Kashmir number and a black Toyota Innova with a Chandigarh number — opened indiscriminate fire at him. Raja was also captured firing at Dogra, who was already on the ground, killing him on the spot”, a cop said, adding that Raja had met Dogra in a jail in Jammu.
While all the five shooters fled the spot, police detained both Bunty and Dalbir to investigate their role in the murder.
Sources said Dogra was headed to New Delhi fearing detention by the Jammu police in wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Raja, who also was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA), insisted on accompanying him.
Murder a likely fallout of gang war: Police
Police said the murder appears to be the fallout of a gang war.
Dogra, a member of Billu gang in Jammu faces multiple cases, including three for murder. He had recently come out of jail and was a prime accused in the murder of underworld don Sanjay Gupta alias Bakra in 2006 and had served a 13-year sentence in this case. He had avenged the murder of his gang leader Billu, who was killed by Bakra gang in a jail in 1996. Dogra had been leading the Billu gang since the death of the eponymous leader.
However, according to the sources, police are also investigating leads of Dogra’s affair with the friend’s wife.
Police also questioned the owners of the vehicles used in crime, but the probe found that the vehicles had been on sold and resold on multiple occasions.
“We will soon nab the shooters as our teams are tracing them and coordinating with Jammu police”, Mohali SSP Sandeep Garg said.
