Bajpur, Uttarakhand:
Nearly 10 days after the murders of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep, the Delhi Police today found the gun they suspect was used by Mr Chadha's aide Sukhdev Singh Namdhari during the November 17 shootout.
A Delhi police crime branch team that took Mr Namdhari to his farmhouse at Bajpur in Uttarakhand's Uddham Singh Nagar district found the 7.62-mm pistol of Indian make.
The team is also in Uttarakhand to look for several of Mr Namdhari's associates who are alleged to have been present at the Chattarpur farmhouse in south Delhi during the shootout. Among them is Hardayal Singh, who the police say is a close aide of Mr Namdhari.
Mr Namdhari, who was sacked as Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman after the shootout, was arrested from Bajpur on Friday. He was charged with trespassing and attempt to murder.
Yesterday, Mr Namdhari was sent to five days in police custody after the police told a Delhi court that he had admitted to firing three rounds at Hardeep. If proved, this would be contrary to Mr Namdhari's initial police statement that his personal security officer Sachin Tyagi shot Hardeep to protect him.
The police are still investigating Mr Tyagi's role. Around 144 cartridges were recovered from the shootout spot - 122 live cartridges from the SUV in which Mr Chadha and Mr Namdhari came to the farmhouse and 22 spent cartridges outside.
The police claim Mr Namdhari was the main conspirator in the attempt to evict Hardeep from the disputed farmhouse. Dispute over the farmhouse and other properties is suspected to have sparked off the shootout.
The police say Mr Namdhari, on the morning of November 17, led 30-40 of Mr Chadha's associates to the farmhouse to forcibly take over the property. The group allegedly detained and thrashed Hardeep's men and fired in the air.
Mr Namdhari, who was initially considered a key witness in the case, has alleged a political conspiracy behind his arrest.
Emerging from the court yesterday, he said: "I don't want to talk more on this case. I just want to say it was an accident and the FIR was lodged by me. I called the police myself. It is wrong to say I fired. It is a matter of investigation."
Mr Namdhari has 26 cases against him in Uttarakhand between 1993 and 2009. Eight of them are murder cases. The police got requests in 2001, 2003 and 2009 to cancel his firearm licence.
Mr Chadha and his brothers Hardeep and Rajinder used to jointly manage the estimated Rs 6,000-crore Wave Inc, with diverse business interests ranging from distilleries, movies, multiplexes and sugar to paper mills.
The family published an ad in a national daily today, showing Mr Chadha's son Mandeep and Rajinder as being in charge of the business empire now.
(With inputs from agencies)
A Delhi police crime branch team that took Mr Namdhari to his farmhouse at Bajpur in Uttarakhand's Uddham Singh Nagar district found the 7.62-mm pistol of Indian make.
The team is also in Uttarakhand to look for several of Mr Namdhari's associates who are alleged to have been present at the Chattarpur farmhouse in south Delhi during the shootout. Among them is Hardayal Singh, who the police say is a close aide of Mr Namdhari.
Mr Namdhari, who was sacked as Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman after the shootout, was arrested from Bajpur on Friday. He was charged with trespassing and attempt to murder.
Yesterday, Mr Namdhari was sent to five days in police custody after the police told a Delhi court that he had admitted to firing three rounds at Hardeep. If proved, this would be contrary to Mr Namdhari's initial police statement that his personal security officer Sachin Tyagi shot Hardeep to protect him.
The police are still investigating Mr Tyagi's role. Around 144 cartridges were recovered from the shootout spot - 122 live cartridges from the SUV in which Mr Chadha and Mr Namdhari came to the farmhouse and 22 spent cartridges outside.
The police claim Mr Namdhari was the main conspirator in the attempt to evict Hardeep from the disputed farmhouse. Dispute over the farmhouse and other properties is suspected to have sparked off the shootout.
The police say Mr Namdhari, on the morning of November 17, led 30-40 of Mr Chadha's associates to the farmhouse to forcibly take over the property. The group allegedly detained and thrashed Hardeep's men and fired in the air.
Mr Namdhari, who was initially considered a key witness in the case, has alleged a political conspiracy behind his arrest.
Emerging from the court yesterday, he said: "I don't want to talk more on this case. I just want to say it was an accident and the FIR was lodged by me. I called the police myself. It is wrong to say I fired. It is a matter of investigation."
Mr Namdhari has 26 cases against him in Uttarakhand between 1993 and 2009. Eight of them are murder cases. The police got requests in 2001, 2003 and 2009 to cancel his firearm licence.
Mr Chadha and his brothers Hardeep and Rajinder used to jointly manage the estimated Rs 6,000-crore Wave Inc, with diverse business interests ranging from distilleries, movies, multiplexes and sugar to paper mills.
The family published an ad in a national daily today, showing Mr Chadha's son Mandeep and Rajinder as being in charge of the business empire now.
(With inputs from agencies)
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