Mohali shoots late to cancel Namdhari's gun licence

Almost six months after liquor baron Ponty Chadha was killed in a shootout at a Delhi farmhouse, the Mohali administration has cancelled the arms licence of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who is at present behind bars in the case.

Almost six months after liquor baron Ponty Chadha was killed in a shootout at a Delhi farmhouse, the Mohali administration has cancelled the arms licence of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who is at present behind bars in the case.

On April 16, the district administration issued final notice for the verification of weapon licences of 41 people, including Namdhari, sacked as Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman after Chadha's murder. They had a month to reply but only four did.

The firearm licence issued to Namdhari had expired on March 1. In spite of recommendation by the Punjab home department, the district administration delayed cancelling it. "The arm licences of 37 people, including Namdhari, are cancelled over putting fake addresses on application," deputy commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said here on Friday.

On December 10 last year, state principal secretary (home) DS Bains, in his inquiry report to the home department, had written that Namdhari had obtained arms licence on the basis of fake addresses of Kurali in SAS Nagar district on papers.

On the same licence valid till March 1, 2013, Namdhari, a native of Bazpur in Uttarakhand had purchased multiple weapons (a 0.315-bore rifle, a DBBL (double-barrel ballistic launcher) gun, and a pistol) over the years. The licence was cancelled over misuse of the 0.315-bore rifle in 2005 for seizing a disputed property in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand.

The weapon was seized and deposited in the Kashipur police station of Uttarakhand but in 2007, Namdhari secured a duplicate licence from SAS Nagar district in Punjab.

On November 17, 2012, Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed in a shootout against each other at a Chhattarpur farmhouse in south Delhi over a property dispute. The charge sheet is against 22 people, including Namdhari. His personal security officer Sachin Tyagi and he are accused of murder, attempt to murder, and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. Ponty is also among the accused.