New Delhi: The liquor businessman killed at a popular eatery in Haryana’s Murthal Sunday was a “hardcore” criminal, who had in the past faced several cases of dacoity, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation, and had spent 14 years in prison, ThePrint has learnt from sources in the Sonipat Police.
Police sources further said that there is a strong possibility that this shootout had been carried out by the accused to establish command over the gang of Neetu Dabodia, who was gunned down by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in 2013.
The victim was identified as 36-year-old Sunder Malik from Saragthal village in the same district. According to the time stamp on the CCTV footage accessed by ThePrint, he is purportedly seen being dragged by one of the two assailants.
In 44-seconds-long footage, Malik appears to be attempting to overpower one of the assailants, but relentless shooting by the second assailant leads to his death at the spot.
A Haryana police officer told ThePrint that there are three suspects in the case and while two assailants have been recorded in the CCTV, the third one was driving the Honda City car used by them to flee the spot.
Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s cousin, the Haryana Police Sunday registered an FIR under IPC sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Arms Act, ThePrint has learnt.
According to investigating officers, Malik’s family had raised suspicions over the role of other villagers in the killing as he had had a series of run-ins during the sarpanch election which he had contested.
“A complaint given by the cousin of the victim has pointed to possible involvement of village rivalry as well,” a senior police officer told ThePrint.
Portugal-based wanted man Himanshu Bhau has claimed responsibility for Malik’s murder. However, another police officer said, “Neither the Instagram account which was used to take responsibility [for Malik’s murder] nor the authenticity of the post has been verified. Things will be clear only after identification and arrest of the suspects.”
According to the FIR, accessed by ThePrint, Malik’s cousin has alleged in his complaint that the businessman had told him about a threat to his life from two individuals from his village with whom he had an incident eight months ago.
The cousin went on to allege that Malik had told him that two individuals named Ajay and Shyama along with others were plotting his murder and that Malik had also filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station in the district.
A source in the district police told ThePrint that Malik had picked up a fight with these individuals during sarpanch elections.
Intergang rivalry
Pointing to a possible intergang rivalry, another Haryana police officer said that since Dabodia’s death in 2013, there has been rivalry between several factions of the erstwhile gang run by him and Malik’s murder could have been a result of that.
However, the police officer maintained that Malik had gone a bit silent over the last seven years and while he was involved in criminal cases, it was not as significant as during the days of Dabodia gang.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sonipat East, Gaurav Rajpurohit told ThePrint that eight teams of officers from the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) and Cyber Cell have been constituted to probe the killing.
“We have constituted teams to identify the routes taken by the killers to reach and flee from the spot. The Cyber Cell has been roped in as part of protocol to analyse CCTV footage and mobile network analysis to identify suspects,” he added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)