Manesar killings: Two held after shootout with police in Gurugram

Three months after a group of people opened fire at a former sarpanch’s family, in which four people were killed and two injured, in Manesar, two shooters allegedly involved in the case were arrested after a shootout near an underpass of the KMP flyover at IMT Manesar in Gurugram early Tuesday.

Police said the suspects-- Amit alias Gaath (21) from Bajitpur in Bawana of Delhi and Deepak alias Bholu (30) from from Parauri in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh --fired four rounds. Police returned the fire, during which Gaath was shot in the right leg and rushed to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi for treatment.

At least four shooters, including Gaath and Deepak, barged into the residence of a former sarpanch, identified as Gopal Chauhan , at Kasan village in Manesar on the night of November 4 last year and opened fire at his family members when they were performing Diwali puja, said police.

Chauhan’s sons--Sohanpal (37) and Balram Singh (40)--and his nephews Vikas (21) and Praveen (35) died while Vikas’s father Rajesh (40) and Singh’s eight-year-old son sustained bullet injuries. A pet dog of the family was also shot at in the firing, said police. The director general of police, Haryana, had declared a reward of ₹25,000 on Gaath and Deepak each after the killings.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said they erected barricades on a road near the KMP flyover underpass leading to Bas Lambi village after receiving information about the duo’s movement.

“A 15-member crime branch team of Sector-31, led by inspector Anand Yadav, signalled the duo to stop but they tried to escape. The criminals opened fire on being warned. The police too opened fire, in which Gaath was injured,” he said.

Sangwan added two country-made pistols — a semi-automatic one found in Gaath’s possession and a breach-load from Deepak — were seized along with one live and five empty cartridges.

According to the ACP, the duo was moving on a motorcycle stolen from Gurugram, which too has been seized.

Sangwan said Gaath was one of the prime accused who had arranged the shooters and brought them together for executing the murders.

Police said at least 16 criminal cases are registered against Gaath, who has been evading arrest since 2017.

“He is notorious for his skill of operating firearms with both hands. Out of the 16 cases registered against him, at least nine are murder cases of which three are registered with Delhi police. There are five criminal cases against Deepak, of which one is a murder case registered with Delhi police,” said Sangwan.

Police said the suspects were continuously changing locations and had taken shelter in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and even West Bengal after the killings.

Sangwan said that altogether 14 people, including Gaath and Deepak, allegedly involved in the killings have been arrested so far. “One Yogendra alias Rinku and Manish are yet to be arrested,” he said.

Yashwant Yadav, then station house officer (SHO) of IMT Manesar police station, had said Gopal’s family and the group which opened fire were allies in criminal activities before their relations soured in 2007, when Balram and Sohanpal allegedly murdered one Manoj, brother of Rinku, who is the leader of the other group.

“A tiff broke out between the two groups leading to Manoj’s murder in 2007, done in order to establish supremacy in the area. Sohanpal and Balram were sentenced to life imprisonment for 20 years for killing Manoj and were out on bail at the time the killings were carried out. Rinku wanted to avenge his brother’s murder and hatched a plan to kill all the family members when they were together on Diwali night,” the SHO had said.