The Hindu : Front Page : Police officer shot dead with his own gun

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Police officer shot dead with his own gun

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A day after the murder of the Delhi police’s ‘encounter specialist,’ Rajbir Singh, in neighbouring Gurgaon on Monday night, police said it was a fallout of a dispute with Vijay Bhardwaj, his friend for two decades, over sharing of profit money in a property deal.

The Gurgaon police said that Mr. Singh, recently posted with the Special Operations Squad of the Delhi Police Crime Branch as Assistant Commissioner, was shot dead by Bhardwaj, a property dealer, in his office near Sukhrali village following an altercation.

For almost two hours after the murder, Bhardwaj drove around the city in his car before calling up some mediapersons and surrendering at the Gurgaon Sector-40 police station.

“The accused has confessed to having committed the murder. As per his disclosure, the murder was committed over sharing of profit money that both of them had made in a property deal. Bhardwaj owed several lakh rupees to the police officer and was under tremendous pressure to return the money. When all his attempts to arrange for the amount failed, he decided to kill Rajbir,” said Gurgaon Police Commissioner Mahender Lal.

Mr. Singh, who is credited with over 50 encounters with terrorists and criminals and who enjoyed ‘Z’ plus security cover, reached the dealer’s office “Vijay Associates” around 8 p.m. accompanied by his personal security guards in his official vehicle. He told them to wait at a nearby petrol refilling station as he had to discuss a personal matter with his friend.

Altercation

When Mr. Singh reached the office, Bhardwaj asked his servant to fetch two bottles of soda and later asked him to leave. It was after the servant left that an altercation ensued and Mr. Singh allegedly threatened Bhardwaj with dire consequences if he did not return the money. The argument took an ugly turn and Vijay whipped out a revolver and allegedly shot him thrice from behind from point blank range. Two of the bullets pierced his head and Mr. Singh died on the spot.

The revolver was reportedly procured by the accused from the police officer himself a couple of days ago.

“We found four glasses and two soda bottles at the spot and it seems like both had consumed alcohol. But we are awaiting the post-mortem report to establish whether the two were drunk or if Mr. Singh’s drink was laced with some drugs to make him unconscious before committing the murder,” said a senior police officer.

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