Ghaziabad: 35-year-old man murdered by younger brother’s rivals; hunt on for three

About one-and-half years ago, deceased Chanchal’s younger brother Kuldeep had a fight over some issue with suspect Gaurav. During the fight, Kuldeep opened fire at Gaurav. Kuldeep is presently in jail in connection with the incident. Police believe Chanchal was killed in retaliation

A 35-year-old man was shot dead allegedly by three men at a ground near his house in Deen Dayal Puri locality late Wednesday night, police said, adding that the three suspects are rivals of the victim’s younger brother and teams have been formed to arrest the suspects.

Family and friends of deceased Chanchal Kumar outside the morgue on Thursday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The deceased man was identified as Chanchal Kumar, a labour contractor. He returned home on Monday after finishing work at Dehradun. His family said Kumar was married and had two minor children.

The FIR lodged at Nandgram police station mentioned the suspects as Gaurav Kumar, his brother-in-law Happy, and one unidentified person.

“About one-and-half years ago, Chanchal’s younger brother Kuldeep had a fight over some issue with suspect Gaurav. During the fight, Kuldeep opened fire at Gaurav. Kuldeep is presently in jail in connection with the incident. Around 9.15pm on Wednesday, Chanchal, after having dinner, went for a walk to a nearby ground. There, Gaurav and his accomplices were present, and also some locals. The suspects opened several rounds of fire at Chanchal, and he suffered two gunshot wounds,” said Rahul Kumar, a cousin of the deceased.

The locals immediately informed the family while the suspects fled the spot, after issuing threats.

“My family members rushed the injured Chanchal to a hospital and then to a super specialty hospital where he was declared dead. It seems that Gaurav and his accomplices murdered my cousin because of their rivalry with Kuldeep,” Rahul said.

The police, upon complaint, registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 103(1) (murder) at Nandgram police station on Thursday.

“Prima facie, a previous rivalry resulted in the attack on Wednesday night. Our teams are trying to trace the suspects,” said Poonam Mishra, assistant commissioner of police, Nandgram.