Gangster shot 30 times, Faridabad police forms SIT to probe murder case

A special investigation team has been formed by the Faridabad police to probe the murder of gangster Surajbhan alias Ballu Pehalwan. Pehalwan was shot dead outside a gym in Faridabad Sector 11. The murder was captured on CCTV, and police suspect it was carried out by members of a rival gang. Pehalwan had been living in Faridabad for the past six months. Several cases of murder and extortion were registered against him.

The Faridabad police on Thursday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder of Delhi-based gangster Surajbhan alias Ballu Pehalwan, 42, two days after he was shot dead, officers aware of the matter said.

Police said the murder was captured on a CCTV camera installed close to the gym, with the footage purportedly showing two unidentified assailants indiscriminately firing at Ballu Pehalwan, before fleeing in a car. (Representational image)

Pehalwan was shot at least 30 times on Tuesday while he was starting his motorcycle outside a gym in Faridabad Sector 11, police said, adding that the gangster died on the spot. Officers said the murder was captured on a CCTV camera installed close to the gym, with the footage purportedly showing two unidentified assailants indiscriminately firing at Pehalwan, before fleeing in a car.

A case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention), and under provisions of the Arms Act at the Sector 8 police station on Wednesday. Faridabad police commissioner Rakesh Kumar Arya has constituted five crime branch teams that analysed more than 500 CCTV cameras installed at main intersections of the city, the area near the gym, and the society that the deceased lived in.

Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said, “We have recovered 25 bullet shells, about 30 small and big coin fragments, and two mobile phones from the spot, that have been sent to FSL lab for scanning.”

Officers said they suspect Pehalwan was murdered by members of a rival gang.

“There was a rift between Pehalwan and gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, the leader of Nandu gang, who is suspected to be in the US. Police suspect that Pehalwan was murdered on Sangwan’s instructions as he was the sole eyewitness in his brother-in-law’s murder case. The brother-in-law was killed by Sangwan’s rival, Manjeet Mahal. However, Pehalwan skipped two court hearings during which his statement was scheduled to be recorded. Also, he had received threats from the rival gang to not give statement against Mahal in the murder case,” said a senior police officer associated with the case, on condition of anonymity, adding that Mahal, who is currently incarcerated, is also under the police scanner.

Police said Pehalwan was declared a “bad character” by Delhi Police, and several cases of murder and extortion were registered against him.

Yadav said the deceased gangster had been living with his brother-in-law in Faridabad for the last six months. “He was regular to the Sector 11 gym and used to park his motorbike in the same parking lot. We suspect someone was following him and was waiting for the right time to target him,” he said.

Pehalwan’s wife Rajjo Devi, a resident of Dinpur near Najafgarh in Delhi, said she came to meet her husband on Tuesday and was at her sister-in-law’s apartment when she received a call regarding the murder. “We are in a state of shock and fearing for our lives after this incident,” she said.

Police handed over the gangster’s body to his relatives after a post mortem on Wednesday.