A 38-year-old criminal and his accomplice were shot dead in broad daylight in Dwarka’s Bamnauli village on Wednesday. The incident occurred close to a government school.
The police said they have identified three suspects.
The deceased have been identified as Sandeep Singh alias Mental, who had 10 criminal cases registered against him, including murder and attempt to murder; and his accomplice Pawan Mann alias Ponny, who has two cases registered against him, including theft.
Sandeep’s family suspects a property dispute as the motive behind the murders.
“He had bought 150 square yards of land in Pochanpur last year along with a friend. He built a four-storey building on the plot with eight houses and spent most of his money. His friend was supposed to contribute half the amount and Sandeep had been asking him to pay his share,” said Sandeep’s father Rajinder Singh (61), former Army personnel who retired from JNU’s security team last year.
The family said that Sandeep was coming from his house in Gurugram along with Pawan for a court hearing when they were shot.
Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred around 9.45 a.m. The victims were travelling in a white car and the assailants were following them in another car.
“I heard three gunshots and immediately ran outside. I saw that those who had shot the two people were speeding away and the two victims were barely breathing,” said Sudershan Mishra, a priest and resident of the temple located opposite the crime spot.
A villager made a call to the police at 9.55 a.m. The duo were rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where they were declared brought dead.
A senior police officer said that 8-10 cartridges were recovered from the spot and the duo had three visible bullet injuries each.
The post-mortem report is awaited.
Business partner
Sandeep’s wife Sumitra Devi said she suspected the business partner as he knew the deceased’s whereabouts after they had a chat over the phone on Tuesday.
“The property is in my name. On Tuesday evening, my husband asked me to call his business partner’s wife as both families are friends. We had a conversation about the property. Later, my husband had a word with his partner and told him to come to court to discuss the matter as he had to go for the hearing,” she said.
The family said that they don’t suspect any gang rivalry as Sandeep had been lying low since his release from jail two-and-a-half years ago.
“He had spent over four years in jail and had many friends and enemies who were criminals, but after his release, he mostly used to stay at home. We do not think that this murder is a result of any gang war but investigation will clarify,” said Ms. Devi.
During preliminary probe, the police recovered a motorcycle which they suspect was also used in the incident. They also identified three suspects.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Shibesh Singh said that two cases have been registered, including one against the deceased. “One case has been registered on charges of murder and under the Arms act. Another has been registered against Sandeep as an illegal weapon was recovered from him,” he said.
Locals were left shocked by the incident and said that this was the first such heinous crime in the village in many years.
“I have been living here for 40 years and we have not seen any brutal crime happening in the area. Women and children can roam around freely till late night. We are all shocked,” said Mr. Mishra, adding that there is a temple and a government school right where the incident happened.
Sandeep is survived by his wife and two children. “My daughter is studying in Nainital. We haven’t told her yet,” said Ms. Devi.
