Brother-in-law hired 2 shooters to kill ASI over property: STF

Parveen Arora

Karnal, July 6

With the arrest of three persons including two shooters, the Special Task Force (STF) claimed to have solved the murder case of ASI Sanjeev Kumar, who was shot dead late on Tuesday near Kutail village.

The brother-in-law (jija) of Sanjeev, who lives in Canada, had given the contract of his murder and had hired two shooters for it. A property dispute appears to be the reason behind the crime, though the STF is probing the case from various other angles as well.

The accused were produced in court on Saturday, from where they were taken on six-day police remand to determine the actual reason behind the murder.

The arrested accused have been identified as Tushar (18), Mohit (19), both shooters, and Khitender alias Abhay Sharma, all residents of Aligarh. Sharma is the president of Hindu Dharma Raksha Dal and Tushar and Mohit are its office-bearers. They were arrested by the STF team from Aligarh on Friday. A country-made pistol was seized from them, said Aman, DSP, STF Haryana. The accused shooters camped in the city from June 29 and conducted recces for three to four days, he added.

When the STF members were bringing the trio to Karnal from Aligarh, Mohit tried to flee from their custody. He got the police vehicle stopped for urinating in Sector 6 in the city late on Friday and tried to escape, forcing the police to open fire. He sustained a bullet injury on his leg and was taken to hospital for treatment, said the DSP.

Investigations have revealed that Rajesh, brother-in-law of the deceased, hired two shooters through Khitender. A sum of Rs 1.95 lakh was transferred to Khitender’s account. “Another Rs 4-5 lakh was to be transferred soon,” the DSP said, adding: “We will verify all the facts.”

ASI Sanjeev (42) was shot dead on Tuesday evening near his village Kutail. Eyewitnesses said that two assailants on a motorcycle fired multiple shots at him, striking him twice. He was rushed to a private hospital in Karnal, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The Madhuban police had registered an FIR against unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act. ASI Sanjeev was cremated on Thursday, and the case transferred to the STF the next day.