Sharpshooter of Ashok Rathi gang arrested for having rival killed

The city police on Wednesday arrested the suspected sharpshooter of a gang for allegedly ordering the murder of a rival gangster in Naurangpur village near Kherki

The city police on Wednesday arrested the suspected sharpshooter of a gang for allegedly ordering the murder of a rival gangster in Naurangpur village near Kherki Daula on Monday morning.

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Thirty-five-year-old Dhiraj Yadav, suspected of ordering the hit, is allegedly part of the Ashok Rathi gang. The police said he sent three of his associates to kill the victim, identified as one Manjeet Yadav, while he was at a park with his children. Manjeet sustained at least 14 gunshot wounds in the chest, abdomen, head and leg, the police said.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said Dhiraj, a resident of Nakhrola village in Manesar area, was arrested from Iffco Chowk around 4.00pm on Wednesday for allegedly conspiring to murder Manjeet from Shikohpur. “He had visited the park in his village with his two children, who were playing nearby when he was shot dead,” the police said.

However, his children escaped unhurt as they were in a separate area of the park at the time of the incident,” he said.

A crime team was formed on Monday evening, which tracked Dhiraj’s location and followed him on Wednesday. He had got down from a car at Iffco Chowk when the police arrested him.

The police said they received a tip that the vehicle used in the crime was used by the suspect a few days ago. The police started surveilling his phone number and scanned his call details and location records.

The police recovered a 7.65mm countrymade pistol and 12 live cartridges from his possession.

The police have now launched a manhunt to nab the other members of the Rathi gang who shot Manjeet dead. They carry a reward of ₹25,000 for information on each of them.

During interrogation, the suspected sharpshooter told the police that he and his associates had hatched a conspiracy to kill Manjeet as he had control over newspaper distribution, and the supply of security guards and domestic help to condominiums in the Kherki Daula area and he wanted to take over the business. However, Manjeet would not let anyone enter his jurisdiction, Sangwan said.

“The murder took place on Monday morning as Dhiraj wanted to eliminate him and take over all three businesses to resolve his financial crisis,” he said.

“The men shot Manjeet 12 times but when he fell to the ground, he was still breathing. One of them noticed and shot him two more times to end his life. Villagers took him to the hospital, but doctors declared him dead on arrival,” Sangwan said.

The police said Manjeet and Dhiraj had been rivals for the last decade and were involved in several cases of murder, attempt to murder and extortion.

Sangwan said Dhiraj is currently hospitalised in a private hospital in Sector 38 because he complained of chest pain. His condition is fine but he is trying to evade police interrogation, he said.

Manjeet was a close aide of deceased gangster Bhudev Singh, alias Bhanwar, who was killed in a shoot-out with the Gurugram police in Manesar in September 2018. After him, his close aides are running the operations and are involved in extorting money from businessmen in the city, the police said.

The preliminary probe suggests that Dhiraj and his associates had conducted a recce of Manjeet’s village for 20 days. “Dhiraj had prepared a layout of the park and followed Manjeet for a week. He was waiting for the right opportunity to have him eliminated,” Sangwan said.