Nafe Singh Rathi murder case: Mystery deepens as CBI names UK-based gangster in chargesheet
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Chandigarh, June 15
The mystery surrounding the murder of Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) state president Nafe Singh Rathi has deepened as the CBI has named a UK-based gangster in its first chargesheet. The motive behind the crime remains unconfirmed.
It has emerged that four shooters and a UK-based gangster, Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, communicated via the Signal app. A GPS device was discovered attached to the rear of Nafe Singh’s Fortuner, providing live location updates to the shooters.
Nafe Singh succumbed to 10 bullet wounds and his aide Jaikishan Dalal died of four gunshot wounds at Barahi railway crossing in Bahadurgarh on February 25. They were attacked by shooters in an i-20 car who chased and fired at their SUV indiscriminately.
Two days after the murder, the police took the Fortuner to Satyam Toyota showroom, where they found eight bullets and 13 bullet fragments more during inspection. A GPS tracker, purchased from ‘Music Car’ shop in Dwarka, New Delhi, was also found attached to the vehicle’s rear. Although the purchaser of the device remains unknown, CBI investigations revealed that login credentials were operated from the UK by Kapil Sangwan between February 8 and March 3 to track the SUV’s live location.
The conspiracy to assassinate the INLD state chief began around November 2023. Accused Dharmender, released on bail from jail on November 11, 2023, was instructed by fellow conspirator Amit Gulia, lodged in Tihar jail, to contact Sangwan.
Sangwan, wanted in multiple cases in Delhi-NCR, operated his gang from the UK. A red-corner notice and look-out circular is operative against him while two blue-corner notices were published against him for FIRs in Delhi.
In February, Dharmender arranged an i-20 car as directed by Sangwan for the shooters. One of the shooters, Sachin, acquainted with Gulia during his time in Tihar jail, was instructed via Facebook messenger by Gulia on February 17 to install the Signal app.
Sangwan subsequently contacted Sachin on February 18, “Amit Guliya ne tera number diya tha. Bhai ek dusman marna hai. 307 karni hai, Bahadurgarh me. Chale jaiyo.”
Sachin chose Ashish alias Baba to assist in the task. On February 23, they travelled from Nangloi to Bahadurgarh Metro station where Sachin took a selfie as instructed and sent it to Sangwan. Another set of shooters, Nakul and Atul, were traced as they took a cab from Rohtak to Bahadurgarh. They took the i-20 car and joined Sachin and Ashish.
Atul, armed with four pistols, 100 rounds of ammunition and Rs 2 lakh cash, did not disclose Nafe Singh’s identity to Sachin and Ashish. He confiscated their phones and powered them down.
The same day, they waited outside Nafe Singh’s office only to learn he was in Karor village. They followed him there but did not find an opportunity to carry out the attack. The following day, they chased him to RR Farm, Bahadurgarh, and then near his residence in Jatwada Mohalla as they were getting live locations from Sangwan.
On February 25, they chased Nafe Singh from Sector 7, Bahadurgarh, to Sarai village and then to Ashodha village.
After attending an event at Ashodha, Nafe Singh, accompanied by his nephew Rakesh, gunman Sanjeet and Jaikishan Dalal, departed for Bahadurgarh via Barahi. The shooters followed their vehicle. As Barahi railway crossing was closed, all four shooters emerged from their vehicle and opened fire at Nafe Singh’s SUV.
Nafe Singh tried to say something but could not due to back-to-back gunshots, says the CBI. Sanjeet could not fire in defence. Driver Rakesh spoke with anger to Sanjeet, “Chala le naa. Jab mar jayenge, toh ke fayda?” But he was so frightened that he couldn’t fire and his hands started shivering, says the CBI.
