New Delhi, November 17
Gurpreeet Singh Chadha, alias Ponty Chadha, the man synonymous with liquor trade in north-India and for his political connection cutting across party lines, was shot dead this morning following an ugly family feud with his brother, Hardeep Singh Chadha. In the cross fire, Hardeep was also killed while a private security guard was injured.

A third brother of the two deceased, Rajinder Singh was not at the spot.

The incident occurred in South Delhi’s posh Chattarpur farms area. At the centre of dispute is the division of a whopping Rs 6,000 crore empire spread across, liquor trade, distilleries, sugar mills, film financing, shopping malls, sprawling farm houses and real estate.

The dispute started after Kulwant Singh Chadha, father of Ponty and founder of the Chadha group, died in 2011.

Police said 55-year-old Ponty had 12 gunshot injuries and was rushed to Fortis Hospital at Vasant Kunj by the police where he died while Hardeep died on the spot after being hit by four bullets.

The family owned 13 farmhouses in the Chhatarpur area. The farmhouse where the incident took place was also disputed where both the brothers reached this morning to work out the issue of ownership. While discussing about the property, the brothers had heated arguments following which they fired at each other, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range), Vivek Gogia.

Their bodies have been sent to AIIMS for autopsy that will establish the number of bullet shots fired at them and the weapon of offence used, Gogia added.

The police has rounded up about 62 persons for questioning. Separate cases of murder have been registered from both the sides in police station Mehrauli in South Delhi. Police sources said that it could be more than one person who fired at Ponty Chadha as one person could not fire 12 shots at one go. A few men came in a Scorpio who are suspected to have fired at Ponty. As far as Hardeep is concerned, he sustained four shots and there is possibility of lone gunman pouring those bullets into Hardeep.

Thirty blank and 10 live cartridges were recovered from outside the farmhouse. The firing started around 11 am continued for half an hour, said the sources. This is the second incident of firing at Ponty Chadha's residence. Firing took place at his ancestral home in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, on October 5.

Ponty had been in the news for all the wrong reasons during the entire year in 2012. In February the income tax raided his malls in Noida and targeted a cellar in a basement which was believed to have hundreds of crores in unaccounted wealth. Ponty probably had advance information about the raids. The income tax department could seize Rs 11 crore in cash, jewellery and fixed deposits and sealed 13 bank lockers

In May this year, three months after the income tax searches, Ponty Chadha paid Rs 54 crore as tax on an undisclosed income of Rs 175 crore. Ponty had arrived in Punjab in 2001-02 and stayed on till 2007. He also has chain of Wave cinemas in Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Delhi. Ponty was given security by the UP Police.