A missing bullet, some missing links and confused cops

The Delhi Police have recovered another cartridge from the south Delhi farmhouse that witnessed the fatal confrontation between the Chadha brothers a fortnight ago, but the mystery of yet another missing bullet still persists. Jatin Anand reports. Chhatarpur shootout

The Delhi Police have recovered another cartridge from the south Delhi farmhouse that witnessed the fatal confrontation between the Chadha brothers a fortnight ago, but the mystery of yet another missing bullet still persists.

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Even as they chase more suspects - including Surinder Singh Namdhari, the son of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, former Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman - investigators are now eagerly awaiting the results of the ballistics report.

Sources claim, the report might link the father-son duo with the death of Gurdeep Singh alias 'Ponty' Chadha himself -- accidental or otherwise.

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"There were 10 bullets, in all, in the licensed 7.62-mm pistol admittedly used by Namdhari during the incident. Out of these, five were recovered from Namdhari's house at Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand," an investigator said.

That Namdhari might be lying about the number of bullets fired by him on that day and the possibility of one of his shots hitting Ponty, albeit accidentally, is also being investigated, sources said.

During the two successive recreations at the scene of the intra-family bloodbath - 42 DLF Chhatarpur Farms this Monday - a team of the Crime Branch discovered one of the two elusive bullets.

Senior officers said they had reason to believe that Surinder Singh - who was apparently present at the spot during the episode and might have played a part in it - had not fled Uttarakhand.

"We believe he is hiding somewhere in Uttarakhand and has not gone beyond the border of that state. One of our teams is camping at Rudrapur," an officer said.

According to sources, the route of criminal proceedings against Namdhari will be finalised after two weeks - the conclusion of which will see the receipt of the ballistics report.