E-Paper
Gym owner with criminal record shot dead in Kherki Daula
Gurugram:
Gurugram:
A 35-year-old gym owner was allegedly shot dead by at least three men over personal enmity at Naurangpur village in the Kherki Daula area on Monday morning. The gym owner, who had a criminal record, sustained at least 14 gunshot wounds, the police said.
According to the police, the incident took place around 5.30am when the victim, Manjeet Yadav from Shikohpur, was taking a morning walk at a mini stadium in the village with his son, aged 8, and 15-year-old daughter. However, his two minor children escaped unhurt as they were in a separate area of the stadium at the time of the incident, said the police.
Yadav was accused in at least five criminal cases, including the murder of a toll operator at Kherki Daula in 2011, in which he was later acquitted, the police said.
Deepak Saharan, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Manesar, said, “The victim was also accused in at least three cases of assault and possession of illegal weapons. Preliminary probe suggests that the suspects had conducted a recce. Past enmity seems to be the motive. Several crime teams are trying to trace the suspects.”
When Yadav was sitting on a bench, at least three armed men alighted from an SUV outside the stadium and approached him, the official said, adding that he was shot at from a close distance. The victim sustained at least 14 gunshot wounds in the chest, abdomen, head and legs.
“Yadav was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. At the time of the incident, his children were playing at a distance and heard the commotion. We are questioning them to identify the suspects,” said the police official, adding that Yadav was earlier an associate of gangster Bhanwar Singh, who was killed in a police encounter in 2018.
In a police complaint, Yadav’s maternal uncle said that personal enmity was suspected to be the reason for the murder. “I received a phone call around 5.30am and immediately asked two relatives to rush to the spot,” he said in the FIR.
A case was registered against the suspects under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 25/54/59 of the Arms Act at Kherki Daula police station on Monday.
In 2011, a toll operator was allegedly shot dead after an argument over payment of Rs 27 toll fee in Kherki Daula. In the subsequent probe, Yadav was arrested as an accomplice of the main accused. However, he was acquitted in the case in 2015 for lack of evidence, the police said.
