New Delhi: The murder of gym owner Nadir Shah was planned around two months ago after the Lawrence Bishnoi gang received information that his business partner Kunal Chhabra was not paying extortion money on his directions, ThePrint has learnt.
Shah was shot dead outside his gym in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash area on 12 September.
He had directed him not to pay the extortion amount of Rs 10 crore to the gang and this has emerged as the primary motive behind Shah’s murder, sources in the Delhi Police told ThePrint.
Shah’s murder has thrown open a maze of alleged alliances and rivalries involving ‘illegal’ call centre owners, gangsters, and businessmen.
The case once again throws spotlight on the nexus of jailed gangsters and how they operate from behind bars with easy access to mobile phones. On Bishnoi’s commands as he was infuriated with Shah over his alleged links with rivals, notorious gangster Hashim Baba gave the ‘supari’ (contract) to “some of his boys and asked them to kill Shah”, according to the sources.
Seven people, including two shooters, have so far been arrested in connection with Shah’s murder, according to the sources. Two more shooters with links to Baba are still absconding.
Previously, the sources said, interrogation of the arrested accused—two shooters and five of those who had provided logistical aid and were part of the conspiracy—revealed that a reece was also done in August but the plan to kill Shah was halted on instructions from Bishnoi.
While Bishnoi is in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail, Baba is lodged at Delhi’s Mandoli jail.
“Bishnoi and Hashim Baba gangs are in alliance. The murder was planned two months ago. Interrogation of the accused had said that Baba had been in touch with them through regular calls through an app,” a senior police officer said.
So far, a probe has suggested that Bishnoi’s younger brother Anmol, who is suspected to be in the US, had hatched this conspiracy and Baba was informed about it.
Another Bishnoi ally and fugitive gangster Rohit Godara had also claimed the murder through a purported Facebook post.
The sources said that Shah had been in the line of fire of the Bishnoi-Baba alliance after he was seen with accomplices of rival gangster Ravi Gangwal whom he had met during his time in Tihar.
After Chhabra told Shah about the extortion demand, the source said, the Bishnoi gang suspected that the gym owner was trying to negotiate a deal for the businessman.
Moreover, after his time in jail, Shah, whose family is from Afghanistan, was also working as a police informer. On the day of the murder too, three Delhi Police personnel were present in his gym.
There are reports that Chhabra recorded several extortion calls made to him by gangster Bishnoi. The content of these calls also indicate Bishnoi’s anger towards Chhabra, blaming him for getting some of his men arrested.
Chhabra, who is now at the centre of this murder, has already been questioned by the Special Cell in connection with his business partner’s murder. It is unclear whether he flew down to India from Dubai (where he is currently based) or if he was interrogated online.
Who is Kunal Chhabra
Hailing from Delhi, Chhabra is also an accused in three cases probed by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell. The sources said that the three cases pertain to illegal call centres—wherein scammers duped foreign citizens—operating in the National Capital Region.
Another case, the fourth, is registered in the Paschim Vihar police station.
One of the cases is from April, lodged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating as well as relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. The other cases, including the one with the Paschim Vihar police, have similar sections against Chhabra.
The case lodged in April is being investigated by the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion Strategic Operations, and 12 people have been arrested after a call centre was raided. The accused were allegedly frauding US citizens by impersonating themselves to be part of a financial service company—Charles Schwab Financial Services.
According to sources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had contacted the Delhi Police in March regarding Chhabra’s alleged involvement in online fraud targeting Americans. Moreover, there are two non-bailable warrants against Chhabra and a look out notice against him was also issued in connection with the three cases being probed by the Special Cell.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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