Five gangsters planning to shoot dead singer Fazilpuria held after gunfight near Wazirpur

Investigators said a probe revealed they were working for gangsters Sunil Sardhaniya and Deepak Nandal, who are operating from a foreign country, and taking orders from them via WhatsApp.

The Haryana Police’s Special Task Force (STF) and Gurugram police’s Crime Branch on Wednesday morning arrested five suspected gangsters, after a shoot-out near Wazirpur on Pataudi Road, who were allegedly planning a fatal attack on Haryanvi pop singer-turned-politician Rahul Yadav, alias Fazilpuria, officers aware of the matter said.

The police recovered pistols, country-made pistol, live cartridges, Innova car and 18 empty shell cartridges from the spot, in Gurugram on Wednesday. (HT PHOTO)

Senior police officers said a probe revealed they were working for gangsters Sunil Sardhaniya and Deepak Nandal, who are operating from a foreign country, and taking orders from them via WhatsApp.

“They were also involved in the previous attack on Fazilpuria, which took place in Sector 71 on July 14 and murder of his associate and financier Rohit Shokeen, who was shot dead at Sector 77 on August 4,” STF deputy superintendent of police Preet Pal Sangwan (Gurugram unit) said.

Four of the five gangsters—Shubham alias Kala and Ashish alias Ashu, of Sonipat, and Vinod alias Pahalwan and Padam alias Raja of Jhajjar—were injured in their legs, while a fifth one, identified as Gautam alias Gogi, also from Sonipat, surrendered. All are aged between 19 and 24 years.

Police said that based on intelligence inputs, they intercepted an Innova between 12.15am and 12.45am, following which the suspects opened fire. They said Crime Branch inspector Anand Kumar and sub-inspector Lalit Kumar were shot at, but were wearing bulletproof vests. The bullets also hit an STF vehicle, which had a narrow escape.

Police said they recovered two PX5 9mm Turkish pistols, three countrymade pistols, six live cartridges and 18 empty ones. They estimated each PX5 pistol to cost at least ₹6 lakh in the international market.

Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said the probe revealed that the firearms were supplied to them for Shokeen’s murder. “Vinod and Padam are suspected to have opened fire on Shokeen at Sector 77. Except for Vinod, they were involved in the attack on Fazilpuria on July 14,” he said.

Police said the gangsters were in touch with Sardhaniya and Nandal, who have a dispute over ₹5 crore with Fazilpuria.

Investigators said the gangsters loaned the money, through Shokeen, to produce his music videos but could not pay it back, leading to attacks and Shokeen’s murder. After the murder, Sardhaniya posted on social media, asking Yadav to repay the money and threatening to kill his close associates.

Police said that following the shoot-out, four shooters were being treated at the Sector 10 Civil Hospital.

An FIR for murder attempt, firing, and possession of illegal firearms, among other charges, was registered at the Sector 10 police station on Wednesday.

Police said Vinod, Padam and Shubham were wanted in 19 cases of attempted murder, dacoity, criminal intimidation, and theft across Gurugram, and Sonipat, among other locations.