Man held for killing mastermind of 2017 arms licence racket

Gurugram: Police arrested a man on Thursday for allegedly killing the 40-year-old suspected mastermind of an arms licence racket busted in 2017

Gurugram: Police arrested a man on Thursday for allegedly killing the 40-year-old suspected mastermind of an arms licence racket busted in 2017. Manish Bhardwaj, aka Kala, was shot dead near the New Colony crossing three days ago.

HT Image

Sunny Kant (36), Bhardwaj’s close aide, was apprehended from Iffco Chowk while he was trying to flee. Police were acting on a tip-off which led to the arrest. Kant was a co-accused in the arms license case, and allegedly helped Bhardwaj to arrange fake stamps from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Both were lodged in Bhondsi jail between March 5 and July 25, 2017, and were presently out on bail, police said.

Kant, a resident of Krishna colony, was running a clothing business. Bhardwaj allegedly called and asked him to meet on Tuesday. Bhardwaj wanted to buy two air-conditioners and left home for Sadar Market around 12 noon with his driver. He called Kant to come and meet him after buying the ACs. They drove around the city and discussed plans for some business partnership.

According to Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) (crime), Kant revealed that he was under immense pressure to return ₹20 lakh that he borrowed from Bhardwaj for his business last year. “He already paid ₹6 lakh as interest, but Bhardwaj was pressuring him to return the principal amount. He was close to Bhardwaj, and they committed many frauds together. Kant lost a lot of money in betting and land disputes and was in a severe financial crisis,” he said.

Sangwan said that Kant was paying a high interest of 15% for the loan. “Kant was depressed for many months and even planned to end his life. He bought sulpha tablets to that end a day before the murder. He later realised that he has a family to support, and decided to kill Bhardwaj instead,” the ACP informed.

According to Pramod Kumar, Bhardwaj’s driver, Kant was carrying his licensed weapon on Tuesday, and it was loaded. “Following a heated discussion, Kant and Bhardwaj kept quiet for a few minutes. Kant got down from the car and fired five rounds at Bharadwaj before closing the car door,” he said.

Kant then fled the spot and was absconding since then. A murder case was registered on the complaint of Bhardwaj’s driver. Police said they formed a special team to arrest Kant. According to Sangwan, a revolver and two live cartridges, along with an empty shell have been recovered from his possession. Kant was produced in the local court on Friday and was taken on two days police remand.