Liquor shop owner’s murder in Gurugram: One more suspect held

A month after a 42-year-old liquor shop owner was shot dead in Pataudi, the police on Thursday arrested a suspect from Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh.

A month after a 42-year-old liquor shop owner was shot dead in Pataudi, the police on Thursday arrested a suspect from Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh.

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The suspect, identified by police as Pawan, allegedly committed the crime at the behest of victim Inderjeet’s business rival Abhishek. Police said Abhishek offered Pawan ₹50 lakh for the job. The payment was never made as all suspects had gone into hiding after the crime.

So far, seven people have been arrested in the case.

On September 2 around 10pm Inderjeet and his two friends, Vikram and Vishal, were returning to their houses in a car, when a herd of cattle blocked their path in a lane in Jatauli village of Haily Mandi area. As they were trying to navigate their way around the cattle, several men on motorcycles allegedly cornered them and fired at least 20 rounds at their car. Inderjeet, who was behind the wheel, was shot 16 times and died on the spot, while Vikram had suffered three bullet injuries and was admitted to a hospital and later discharged, police had said. Vishal was unhurt in the incident.

On questioning, said police, Pawan told them he and his accomplices, Ujwal and Jivan, and prime suspect Abhishek carried out the shooting.

Inspector Indiwar, in-charge, crime branch, Farrukh Nagar, said, “Since the murder, Pawan had gone into hiding in Bulandshahr. They had made their plan to kill Inderjeet on August 30. They stole motorcycles from Noida for the crime and later dumped the vehicles and the guns used in the crime. These are yet to be recovered.”

Police said Pawan was produced in a district court and sent to two-day police custody. The police probe had found that Abhishek had attacked Inderjeet last year too in a similar fashion. In that case, the court had declared him to be a proclaimed offender.