3 shooters held for firing on designer’s office in Gurugram

Haryana police arrested three shooters linked to gangster Deepak Nandal for a shooting at a fashion designer's office, aiming to extort money.

Gurugram:The Haryana police special task force (STF) arrested three shooters of gangster Deepak Nandal on Thursday for allegedly opening fire at the office of a fashion designer in DLF Phase-I on Golf Course Road, police said on Friday.

According to the police, the attack aimed to terrorise the designer to extort money (Photo for representation)

The accused were identified as Devender Kumar, 41, of Asoda, Naveen Kumar, 30, of Parnala, both in Jhajjar and Sandeep Kumar, 44, of Silana in Sonipat.

Pritpal Sangwan, DSP, STF Gurugram unit said that Devender fired multiple rounds at the office of Mayank Chawla located right on the GCR on February 18. “The firing was carried out on the direction of gangster Deepak Nandal, who is suspected to be hiding and operating from a western country,” he said.

According to the police, the attack aimed to terrorise the designer to extort money. Nandal also took responsibility for the incident in a social media post a day after the incident.

Following the incident, Chawla lodged an FIR under the Arms Act at DLF Phase-I police station, after which the STF took over the investigation.

STF officials said that after analysing CCTV footage and acting on human intelligence, Devender was identified as the main shooter and arrested. Subsequently, the other two accused were arrested for providing logistics and shelter to him on the gangster’s directions.

Sangwan said another FIR was registered against the accused under sections 111(4) (organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on Friday to arrest other associates of the gang operating in Gurugram and neighbouring areas.

STF officials said that two country-made semiautomatic pistols, seven live cartridges and a motorcycle were recovered. They said three cases of theft were registered against Devender, while nine cases of murder and illegal firearms possession were registered against Sandeep, who is also convicted in the infamous Mandothi murder in 2008.

Police added that at least two more firing incidents and the murder of a Delhi man were carried out on Nandal’s directions in Gurugram last year.