Prime suspect in murder of four family members in Kasan village held

Gurugram: The prime suspect in the murder of four members of a family in Kasan village on Diwali night in 2021 was arrested on Monday, said police

Gurugram: The prime suspect in the murder of four members of a family in Kasan village on Diwali night in 2021 was arrested on Monday, said police.

Prime suspect in murder of four family members in Kasan village held

Police said the suspect, identified as Yogender alias Rinku (36), who was in a car, opened fire at the crime branch team from Sector 17, led by inspector Narender Kumar on Naurangpur-Tauru Road near Kherki Daula at about 8am. Police personnel also opened retaliatory fire and nabbed him after a brief chase.

Investigators said that a Hyundai i20 car in which he was travelling, a country-made pistol and three empty cartridges were seized from him.

Police said on November 4, 2021, Yogender and several other suspects barged into the residence of the victims at Kasan village in Manesar.

They opened fire on Balram Singh Chauhan (37), who was the son of the former village sarpanch, his brother Sohanpal (34), their cousin Praveen Singh (32), Balram’s eight-year-old son Yash. Balram’s uncle Rajesh (46), and his son Vikash (21) also sustained bullet injuries due to the indiscriminate firing by the suspects when the victims were busy performing Diwali rituals.

Sohanpal had died at the spot, Vikash was declared dead at the hospital, while Balram and Praveen had died after a few days in the course of treatment. Only the child and Rajesh were able to survive the attack, said police.

Yogender, Deepak, Manish Rana, Amit alias Gaanth and several other unidentified suspects were booked in the FIR registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act at IMT Manesar police station on the basis of a complaint filed by injured Rajesh, police added.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that in the course of their investigation, it came to light that Yogender, who also hails from Kasan, had planned the killings to avenge the murder of his elder brother Manoj on the day of Holi in 2007.

“Balram and Sohanpal were the prime suspects in Manoj’s murder. After interrogating Yogender, it became clear that he had gathered the suspects for killing the family members,” the ACP said.

ACP Sangwan added that Yogender was hiding in Rajasthan, Jharkhand and other states after the incident.

“We had received inputs that he was about to reach Gurugram after which a vehicle checking drive was initiated on Naurangpur-Tauru Road. Police waved at the suspected car to stop but Yogender opened fire. Three rounds were fired from both sides, but none were injured,” ACP Sangwan said.

The ACP said that Yogender was the only suspect left to be arrested in the case. “Earlier, we had nabbed 18 suspects in the case, including a few minors,” he added.

As per police, Yogender had used minors to carry out a reconnaissance on the movement of the family members for planning the attack. They said that he was involved in at least eight cases, including murder and attempt to murder in Haryana and Delhi.

Police added that the Haryana Police had also declared a reward of ₹50,000 for anyone giving clues on Yogender’s whereabouts.