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Two wanted men held for murder of vegetable vendor
A week after the murder of a 34-year-old vegetable vendor in Surajpur, two wanted criminals, one of them a sharpshooter for the Sunder Bhati gang, were nabbed early
A week after the murder of a 34-year-old vegetable vendor in Surajpur, two wanted criminals, one of them a sharpshooter for the Sunder Bhati gang, were nabbed early Friday morning in connection with the case, the police said, adding that the two suspects were held following an encounter.
The vegetable vendor, Durgesh, was shot at on July 9 at his shop outside a housing society. He died during treatment on July 14. His family had allegedly blamed the son of a policeman posted with the fire department for the death, as the cop’s son had been booked in May by the Surajpur police after he allegedly assaulted Durgesh when he refused to pay extortion money to him. The police had also taken him in custody to question him.
However, around 1am on Friday, the police, while checking at the FNG road near Sector 144, waved a Brezza car to stop. But the car’s occupants tried to flee and fired at the police team chasing them.
“Both the suspects were injured in the retaliatory firing. They were identified as Yogesh Bhati and Kapil Bhati who carried rewards of Rs 50,000 and Rs 25, 000 on their heads, respectively. Yogesh is one of the top 10 criminals of the district and works as a sharpshooter for the Sunder Bhati gang. They were also involved in several extortion cases,” said Harish Chander, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Zone 2.
Police officials said that the car had been stolen by them from Dadri on February 5. From the vehicle, Rs 50,000 was also recovered which was part of the loot from a previous robbery. Two country made pistols were also recovered from them, the officials said, adding that they were taken to the district hospital for treatment.
The duo was allegedly responsible for the shooting of Durgesh as he had refused to pay extortion money to them, said the police. Chander said that a probe is on for the connection between the two extortion bids and the role of the previous suspect in this murder.
“Yogesh was also responsible for the murder of another criminal Nandu, a native of Noida, in police custody in Bijnore upon instructions from Sunder. Kapil was involved in the murder of his own father with whom he had issues,” said DCP.
The police have identified at least 16 criminal cases, including that of murder, against Yogesh while Kapil also has several murder cases against him, the officials said.
