Gurugram: Mobile shop owner with ‘links’ to gangster shot dead in Sector 9

A 38-year-old city-based mobile shop owner, suspected to be a close associate of gangster Binder Gujjar, was allegedly shot dead in broad daylight in Feroze Gandhi Colony, Sector 9, on Friday afternoon.

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According to the police, the assailants fired at least 27 bullets at the victim’s car as he was on the way to his office.

The deceased has been identified as Vikas Dureja alias Vicky alias Anda, a mobile shop owner based in the Baldev Nagar area.

The shooting has raised concerns regarding resurgence of a gang war in the city amid the lockdown, the police said. A day earlier, at least three men had shot dead a 22-year-old man in Shiv Park.

The police, however, denied that the incident was related to any gang rivalry, and said that they were probing all angles, including the role of liquor mafia.

Police sources said that Dureja was a close aide of gangster Binder Gujjar, who was arrested in 2019 by the Mumbai crime branch for his alleged involvement in several murder and extortion cases. Gujjar was also allegedly a conspirator in the encounter of rival gangster Sandeep Gadoli. Their turf war had allegedly resulted in several murders. Gujjar’s brother Manish, a liquor trader, was killed in a gang war in 2016.

According to the police, the Friday’s incident was reported around 2.45pm when Dureja was going to his office in his white SUV (Creta). At least three suspects in a Scorpio car blocked the Dureja’s SUV, the police said, adding that most of the suspects were armed.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that the victim tried to reverse his car to escape but he hit a dead-end and the Scorpio rammed into his car from behind.

“A preliminary probe suggests that the suspects got out of the vehicle and surrounded his car from three sides. The bullet holes on his car suggest that the suspects fired at him through the windshield and the co-driver’s seat. It is premature to say that the murder was orchestrated due to gang rivalry,” said Sangwan, adding that there was no eye witness in the case and the police could not recover CCTV footage of the incident.

The police said that the victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds all over his body and died on the spot. According to forensic analysis, the bullet casings indicate that the cartridges used in the pistol were of 9mm, .32 bore and 7.62mm. Several crime teams are working to trace the suspects, said the police.

A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that Dureja had borrowed money to run several allied businesses, including property and real estate. “He also owed money to some people, who were involved in illegal liquor trade. During the lockdown, the liquor mafia had been operational in the city. The murder could be related to some of these dealings,” said the police official.

The police said they have registered a case of murder on the statement of the victim’s wife. In the statement, she said that her husband had gone for work around 2pm, and around 2.40pm, she received information that he had been shot dead. She did not name any suspects in the complaint, the police said.

The case was registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act at New Colony police station on Friday, said the police.