Former councillor Krishan Pehelwan and two others have been arrested for allegedly destroying evidence in connection with the murder of two Personal Security Officers (PSOs) during a party at his farmhouse in south-west Delhi’s Najafgarh area, the police said on Sunday.
The other two arrested are Pramod and Yogesh. They allegedly tried to clean the scene of crime after the incident, a senior officer said.
The incident took place on Friday night, following which police arrested Joginder, private security officer (PSO) of a realtor.
Joginder alias Pollard works for Pehalwan in different capacities, said the police. He allegedly shot dead Ashok Kumar and Fauji, who also worked as PSOs for other realtors in the area, after a heated argument at a party at Mr. Pehelwan's farmhouse where his PSO lives.
Mr. Pehelwan himself was not present at the party and rushed there after being informed about the incident.
The police were informed about the incident by hospital authorities who reported about two men being brought there with bullet injuries, of which one was dead and the other was reported critical.
The second man succumbed to injuries a few hours later.
Mr. Pehelwan and others were summoned for questioning and arrested last night, the officer added.
A drunken argument over caste system, reservation issue and the recent Jat agitation resulted in the killings, the police said based on the probe so far. However, they have not ruled out other motives.
Police have vehemently denied that the killings had anything to do with gang war that has over the last two decades taken several lives. Bharat Singh, Mr. Pehelwan’s brother and ex-MLA from Najafgarh was gunned down in March last year, leading to the arrest of several suspects and a crackdown on the big and small gangs operating from the South-Western region of the city. Police received a call from a local private hospital around 11.30 p.m. on Friday about two men admitted with gunshot wounds by unknown persons in a Fortuner car. “One person was brought dead while the other was critical and succumbed to his injuries sometime later,” said RA Sanjeev, DCP (South-West).
