Paschim Vihar murder: Police to seek remand of fugitive gangster’s kin
On Friday morning, 53-year-old property dealer Raj Kumar Drall was shot dead in his SUV on the Outer Ring Road in Paschim Vihar.
A day after fugitive gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu purportedly claimed responsibility for the murder of a property dealer in Paschim Vihar, the Delhi Police on Sunday said they were securing the police custody remand of the gangster’s brother Jyoti Sangwan, who is currently incarcerated at Tihar jail, to interrogate him and ascertain his alleged role in the conspiracy.
Nandu, 32, originally from Najafgarh, is wanted in nearly 20 cases linked to crimes like murder, attempt to murder, extortion and robbery and arms act in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. He fled India in 2020.
On Friday morning, 53-year-old property dealer Raj Kumar Drall was shot dead in his SUV on the Outer Ring Road in Paschim Vihar. The attack was captured by several CCTV cameras in the area. The next day, Nandu in a purported social media post took credit for the murder.
Investigators told HT they have reason to believe that Jyoti Sangwan aka Baba orchestrated the planning and execution of Drall’s killing, for which at least four “contract killers” were arranged from northern Haryana.
“Given the fact that Nandu is abroad and Drall’s murder was executed after a detailed planning and reconnaissance of the victim’s routine, we suspect that Jyoti Baba may have arranged all logistical support such as arms and ammunition, money to buy the car used in the crime, and accommodation in Delhi to the killers through his trusted associates,” said a senior police officer, declining to be named.
“We have initiated the legal procedure to secure Baba’s custody remand… Baba’s interrogation may help us join many missing dots related to the crime,” the officer added.
According to police, the assailants — identified as as Shubham, Shokeen Khan, Taranjit, and Suraj — on April 9 bought the car used in the murder for ₹2.20 lakh from Karol Bagh
Another senior police officer associated with the probe said investigators have scanned CCTV footage of the routes the four assailants took before and after the murder — they appeared to have fled to Haryana via Tikri border — adding that lookout circulars (LOCs) have been issued against the four men.
“We also checked CCTV footage of the previous days and found that the four assailants had conducted detailed reconnaissance of Drall’s movement and activities on April 9 and 10. They executed the killing on April 11. The four used sophisticated automatic firearms to spray bullets on Drall and his SUV,” the second officer said.