Namdhari conspired to grab property, black money: police

The Delhi Police on Sunday confirmed that recent land deals and black money played a crucial role in the shootout at south Delhi's Chattarpur farmhouse, in which Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed; Faizan Haider reports.

The Delhi Police on Sunday confirmed that recent land deals and black money played a crucial role in the shootout at south Delhi's Chattarpur farmhouse, in which Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed.

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The Hindustan Times had reported on Saturday that Ponty had bought land in India and abroad in Namdhari's name and Hardeep was upset with Namdhari's proximity to Ponty.

In the remand paper presented before the court on Sunday, the Delhi Police said Namdhari had told them that Ponty had purchased properties in Haldwani, Nainital and Rudrapur — all in Uttarakhand — in their joint account as well as in the name of relatives. Police told the court that they were in the process of recovering the property documents.

The police are also likely to question three UP politicians Namdhari had called after the shootout. "Hardeep was sidelined as Namdhari became the pointsman for Ponty. Apart from buying land in his name, Ponty gave him huge sums of cash to keep it with him. Namdhari became the custodian of unaccounted money that run into crores and that was the reason why Hardeep started feeling sidelined," a senior police officer said.

Sources said Ponty had bought about 2,000 acres of land in South Africa a few months ago and they were verifying whether this property was bought in Namdhari's name as well.

"Namdhari was looking after Ponty's empire in Uttarakhand and the latter bought large tracts of land in Namdhari's name in Nainital, Rampur and Bajpur. Namdhari was instrumental in creating a rift between the two brothers," the officer added.

To gain Ponty's confidence, Namdhari helped him in grabbing over a dozen properties in Uttarakhand. Sources said that Hardeep was aware of the unaccounted money and land but couldn't do anything as it was with Namdhari. Close associates of Ponty, who were arrested for trespassing, have also told police that Namdhari's closeness to Ponty was hurting Hardeep.

The PSO of Ponty's son Monty Chadha, Satnam, who was arrested on Thursday, told police that Namdhari was pressuring Ponty to act against his brother.

Court extends remand

A city court on Sunday extended the remand of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari till December 5. Extending Namdhari's police custody by three more days, the court observed that five more co-accused, who have altered and cleaned the pistol used in the incident, are yet to be arrested. Namdhari, who has been in police custody since his arrest, was produced before the court after his three days' police remanded expired on Sunday. (PTI)