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Third accused in murder of gangster Ashok Rathi held
Gurugram: The police on Friday night arrested the third accused in the murder case of gangster Ashok Rathi, who was shot dead at his house in Alipur near Bhondsi
Gurugram: The police on Friday night arrested the third accused in the murder case of gangster Ashok Rathi, who was shot dead at his house in Alipur near Bhondsi on November 16.
According to the police, the third accused, Salim, had allegedly procured the weapons — three guns including a pistol for ₹30,000 — used by the three accused and was the first to shoot at Rathi after a brief parley at his house.
Ajay Malik, in-charge, Bilaspur crime branch, said that Salim was produced in a district court on Saturday and sent to five-day police custody. “During remand, the police are likely to uncover the entire conspiracy and also find out details of where the weapons were procured from,” he said. Salim was arrested from Sohna.
On December 7, the police had arrested Narender alias Sonu and Rohit alias Bobby from Najafgarh in Delhi in the case. Investigation had revealed that Rathi was putting pressure on Sonu and Bobby to settle property cases.
Sonu had taken an advance of ₹3.5 lakh for sale of his property from a potential buyer, who later reneged on the purchase. Rathi had formed an alliance with the buyer and had been threatening to kill Sonu if he did not return the advance. Bobby also was under pressure from Rathi to withdraw a case that his family had filed in court regarding a dispute, the police said.
According to the police, both had contacted their common friend Salim and hatched a plan to murder Rathi, a fortnight before the incident. A day prior, the trio had gone to Rathi’s house but he was not at home, following which a meeting for November 16 morning was set up over a voice message, the police said.
Around 8am on November 16, after a 10-minute discussion over terms of settlement, the trio had allegedly fired at least seven rounds at him. After the murder, the accused trio had abandoned their car in Jaipur and travelled to Jodhpur, Gujarat, Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, and Solapur before they were arrested.
