Gurgaon: Three members of Ashok Rathi gang involved in Harish bakery shoot-out nabbed

On December 13, one of the accused had fired a shot at the accountant of Harish Bakery and before that, he had slipped a piece of paper into the bakery, on which a threat had been issued in the name of gangster Ashok Rathi.

Three persons who allegedly orchestrated an attack on a prominent bakery in the city on December 13 were arrested by the police on Wednesday.

The anti-snatching team of Sector 39 crime branch arrested them from Rajiv Chowk on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

According to the police, the three of them are repeat offenders based in Gurgaon and are allied with a dreaded gangster, Ashok Rathi, who is currently lodged in Jhajjar jail.

The three members were identified as Surender, Dharmender, alias Dheeraj, both residents of Islampur, and Neeraj, alias Baba, of Rewari.

Two pistols, a countrymade pistol and six live cartridges were recovered from the accused on their arrest.

On December 13, one of the accused had fired a shot at the accountant of Harish Bakery and before that, he had slipped a piece of paper into the bakery, on which a threat had been issued in the name of gangster Ashok Rathi.

Sumit Kuhar, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said that the anti-snatching team of Sector 39 crime branch arrested them from Rajiv Chowk on Wednesday when they were planning to escape to another area.

“The accused have confessed to their role in the shoot-out at the behest of their gang leaders, who wanted to extort money from the owners of Harish Bakery,” he said.

The police said that Neeraj fired the shot at the bakery while Dharmender waited for him outside the shop to make an escape. Information about the accused was also obtained from Ashok Rathi, who was brought on a production warrant by the Gurgaon police.

Apart from Rathi, the Gurgaon police have also pointed to the involvement of gangsters Anil Kakdola and Dheeraj Nakhdola in the incident, as the accused carried out the firing to intimidate and threaten the owner of Harish Bakery.

“The accused are involved in several criminal cases and they are hardened criminals. They have admitted to their involvement to not only in this incident but also a murder they committed in neighbouring Rajasthan,” Kuhar said.

Giving details of the incident, he said that they had gone to Dholpur in Rajasthan on the instructions of Anil Kakdola, to extort Rs10 lakh from a businessman. However, the motorcycle of the accused developed a snag on Agra highway and in their attempt to snatch a bike, they shot dead a person and injured another who had tried to thwart their attempt.

A case of murder in this regard has been registered at Malpura police station in Agra, the police said.

Apart from that, the police said they are questioning the involvement of three men in other crimes in the city and adjacent areas.

The criminals had demand protection money of Rs50 lakh from those running the bakery, and in case that was not paid, they had threatened them with dire consequences. The cashier of the bakery, Raj Kishore, had a narrow escape as the bullet had just grazed his hand.