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2 Nandu gang members held after shootout near Munak Canal in Delhi’s Rohini
The two included Sombir alias Chinu, one of the alleged killers of Deepak Thakran, 38, a nephew of jailed gangster Manjeet Mahal
Two members of the fugitive gangster Kapil Sangwan-led Nandu gang were arrested after an exchange of fire near Munak canal in Delhi’s Rohini Sector-34 on Friday, police said.
The two included Sombir alias Chinu, one of the alleged killers of Deepak Thakran, 38, a nephew of jailed gangster Manjeet Mahal. Two assailants on a bike shot dead Thakran in front of his 10-year-old daughter while they were on a morning walk near their Nangal Thakran Village residence in outer Delhi.
On Thursday night, police were tipped off about the presence of Sombir and his accomplice in Rohini. Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Harsh Indora said a trap was accordingly laid in the area in the early hours of Friday. “The [police] team spotted the two and asked them to surrender, but they fired at the raiding team. Our team members fired in response, and both suspects suffered one bullet each. They were arrested and admitted to a nearby hospital,” said Indora.
Police said two country-made pistols and eight cartridges were recovered from Sombir, a resident of Haryana’s Hisar. Police said Sombir was directly involved in the firing that killed Thakran and left his daughter injured with a bullet in her forearm.
Hours after Thakran killing, Sangwan, who is believed to be based in the United Kingdom, purportedly claimed responsibility for the murder. “...I Kapil Sangwan Nandu and Venkat Narayangarh take responsibility for the murder of Manjeet Mahal’s nephew Deepak,” said a post in Hindi on a social media account Sangwan purportedly runs. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the post.
Investigators said a decade-long bitter rivalry between the Nandu and the Mahal gangs led to Thakran’s murder. The rivalry has claimed over two dozen lives since December 2015, when the Sangwan’s brother-in-law, Sunil, was shot dead at his office in Deenpur near Najafgarh. Mahal and his associates, including gangster Nafe Singh Mantri, allegedly killed Sunil. The same night, Sangwan and his associates avenged the murder by killing Mantri’s father in Najafgarh.
Indora said that multiple teams were investigating Thakran’s murder. He added that they identified Sombir as one of the attackers. Investigators learnt that one Vijay from Chandigarh was also involved in the murder conspiracy, and played the role of harbourer and logistic provider to the two hitmen and other members of the Nandu gang.
