Thaindian News

Ghaziabad, Nov 25 (IANS) Police Friday claimed to have solved the attack on gang leader Sundar Bhati at a marriage here Nov 18, with the arrest of two hitmen who were paid Rs.20 lakh by rival gangs to eliminate him.

Four people were killed and four wedding guests injured in the shootout at a marriage hall in Sahibabad area here.

Police said that the gunmen, arrested by the Ghazaibad Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), were identified as Vikram Dhama and Haria Bhati. A 9 mm pistol was seized from them.

Giving details, Additional Superintendent of Police Amit Verma said that the conspiracy to kill Sundar Bhati was hatched by the brother of slain criminal Naresh Bhati, an ex-chairman of Gautam Budh Nagar District Panchayat and one time partner of Sundar Bhati, before they quarrelled and split the gang.

Naresh Bhati’s brother hired Dharmendra Lala and Sukhram Pal Bhagat to eliminate Naresh Bhati and paid them a “supari” (contract) of Rs. 20 lakh.

The two arrested men said before the attack, the 11 member team held a meeting at Naresh Bhati’s residence in Greater Noida. Then, armed with rifles, pistols and an AK 47 assault rifle, the gang headed by Amit Kasana attacked Bhati after the bride and the groom exchanged garlands.

After spraying over 50 rounds indiscriminately towards Bhati, they presumed that Sundar Bhati had been killed and fled. However, he had survived by taking shelter under the dining table.

After police came to know of the incident, senior officers visited the spot and set up teams to crack the case, and managed to arrest these two from their hideout in Baghpat district.

Acting on their confession, police are on trail of the other criminals and weapons used in the crime including the AK-47, said Verma.

The shootout was the latest episode in the war for controlling the lucrative racket of extortion from transporters carrying construction material in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, say police sources say.

The war, which has claimed the lives of over a dozen people from both sides in less than a decade, intensified when Sundar Bhati succeeded in eliminating his rival, Naresh Bhati, who was shot dead in 2003.

Accused of the murder but freed on bail, Sundar Bhati, who faces over two dozen criminal cases of heinous crimes in different police stations of Greater Noida, Noida, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, was operating his independent extortion business in Greater Noida, police say.

Attracted by the profitable “business”, other criminal elements were also trying to get into it.
One of these was Anil Dujana, who had started posing a serious threat to Sundar Bhati in the area. Intending to take revenge for his maternal uncle’s murder, Naresh Bhati’s nephew Amit Kasana joined hands with Dujana to jointly take on Sundar Bhati.

The Nov 18 attack was the first move of the newly-formed alignment between Dujana and Kasana, said police.