Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Cops piece together sequence of Chadhas’ bloody shootout

New Delhi : Delhi Police Monday finally managed to piece together the sequence of events leading to the deaths of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep in a bloody shootout in their luxurious farmhouse in south Delhi Saturday.

A team of forensic and ballistic experts went in the morning to the sprawling 12 acre Rs.200 crore farmhouse in Chhattarpur area — which is dotted with farmhouses of the rich and powerful.

IANS has tried to reconstruct the sequence of events that occurred on the fateful Saturday when the two brothers, locked in a property dispute, opened indiscriminate firing at each other. Some family members have, however, denied the police claims that the bloodbath was the result of a property dispute gone awry.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by Ponty Chadha’s family friend Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, it was Hardeep Chadha who started firing from a pistol. The younger brother first opened fire at his elder brother’s security manager Narendra, who is now undergoing treatment.

Namdhari, who is Uttarakhand Minority Commission chairman, in his police complaint said he had come to meet Ponty at his farmhouse number 21 in Chhattarpur at 9.30 a.m. and then left for the disputed farmhouse No.42, which is not far, in their Land Cruiser car.

When Narendra, who went along with Ponty and Namdhari in the car, started unlocking the gates of the disputed farmhouse, Hardeep, along with his personal security guards (PSO), also showed up and opened fire at him.

But, according to police, after investigations they have found that Hardeep was actually attending a meeting in Noida, adjoining Delhi, when he was informed by his security guards that his elder brother along with 30-40 men had entered the disputed property. Hardeep then rushed to the farmhouse where a heated argument erupted between the two brothers.

Police investigations also showed that Narendra tried to intervene in the argument that led an angry Hardeep opening fire.

But in the police complaint given by Namdhari, he mentioned that Hardeep was with his gunmen and personal security officer when they reached the disputed farmhouse — over which the two brothers were fighting for ownership.

According to Namdhari’s version, after injuring Narendra, Hardeep then came towards them and started firing indiscriminately at Ponty who was getting out of the car.

Namdhari hid behind the car to avoid being hit by the bullets.

The FIR also stated that Namdhari’s security person, Sachin Tyagi, provided by the Uttarakhand government, opened fire in defence. As Tyagi continued firing, the younger brother entered the farmhouse.

But, the police are still probing whether only Hardeep opened fire or whether his PSOs were also involved in the shootout that resulted in the death of the two brothers.

Police were also investigating who all were involved in the firing.

Namdhari said that with the help of his driver, he took bullet-riddled Ponty to Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj where he was declared dead.

After the bloodbath, when police reached the spot at 12.20 p.m., they found Hardeep’s body.

The police also found several weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, two pistols, bullets and cartridges.

The first call was made to police at 12.15 p.m. Police also received two more calls — the second one at 1.15 p.m. and then the final one at 2.30 p.m. The caller just informed police that a fight had broken out in the farmhouse.

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