Feroze Gandhi Colony murder: Police probe gang rivalry, links to liquor mafia

Gurugram: A day after a 38-year-old mobile shop owner was shot dead in Feroze Gandhi Colony, the police on Saturday said that they were probing his links to gangster

Gurugram: A day after a 38-year-old mobile shop owner was shot dead in Feroze Gandhi Colony, the police on Saturday said that they were probing his links to gangster Binder Gujjar, suggesting that the murder could be related to gang rivalry. Several crime investigation teams have initiated a probe to trace the suspects. A post-mortem examination conducted on Saturday revealed that the victim was shot 30 times.

HT Image

The police said the victim, Vikas Dureja alias Vicky alias Anda, was a close aide of Gujjar and had been involved in some of his business dealings since Gujjar was arrested last year by the Mumbai crime branch for an alleged conspiracy to kill his rival Sandeep Gadoli.

A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, “We are looking into Gujjar’s business dealings in real estate and liquor and trying to find out if the victim was actively involved in the ‘handling’ any of these deals. Some of Gujjar’s associates were smuggling liquor in Delhi-NCR during the lockdown. It is possible that a rival gang wanted to usurp his territory and get into illegal liquor smuggling in the city by plotting this murder.”

The police said they are also probing if Sandeep Gadoli’s henchmen had planned the murder as an act of possible revenge for Gadoli’s killing. The rivalry between Gujjar and Gadoli had resulted in a turf war lasting for several years and leading to several inter-gang killings.

On Friday around 2.45pm, Dureja was on his way to his office when unidentified suspects had rained bullets at him after blocking his way in Feroze Gandhi Colony. The victim had tried to reverse his car when an SUV, in which at least three suspects were seated, rammed his car from behind. The suspects had fired gunshots at a close range at his car and he had succumbed to injuries from multiple gunshot wounds on the spot. The police had recovered 27 gunshot cartridges from the spot.

Deepak Mathur, forensic expert, who conducted the autopsy, said, “The victim sustained 30 gunshot wounds on his neck, trunk, abdomen, chest and forearms and succumbed to injuries.”

The police have registered a case of murder against unidentified suspects after the victim’s wife did not name anyone in the FIR.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), crime, said, “The suspects are yet to be identified. We are yet to arrive on the evidence of the victim’s involvement in criminal activities. The police are looking at all angles, including gang rivalry.”