Gangland killing main accused in police net

AMBALA: Police on Tuesday arrested rival gang leader Shamsher Singh alias Monu Rana for the gangland murder of Barara’s Vivek Rana, more than two months after his bullet-riddled body was found near Derabassi.

Vivek was suspected to have been killed for giving information about a member of Monu Rana gang to Bhupinder Singh alias Bhupi Rana gang of Mohali, which led to that man’s murder.



Vivek was kidnapped from Triveni Chowk, Barara, on May 16. The next day, his body with multiple bullet wounds was found from the jungle of Samgoli near Derabassi in Mohali district.

On the complaint of Vivek’s cousin, the Barara police station had registered a case against Monu Rana, Amar Singh and Gautam under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) of the IPC. Police had placed a reward of Rs 25,000 for providing information leading to the arrest of Monu Rana. He was also wanted in other cases. A special investigation team caught him from Thamber village in Barara.

Vivek, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh, was associated with the Rahul Khatta (RK) gang. Khatta from Baghpat’s Khatta Prahladpur was gunned down in a fierce encounter in Saharanpur on June 5, 2015. He had 35 criminal cases registered against him in the states and ran an extortion and kidnapping racket.

Police said the reason for Vivek’s murder could be the rivalry between two gangs active in Barwala area of Panchkula. Monu Rana’s associate name Bhupesh Rana was killed in a gang war in Barwala on April 16.

According to police, “Bhupesh Rana was murdered by the Bhupi Rana gang to take revenge for the murder of his gang member Mustaq, a resident of Zirakpur. Mustaq was allegedly murdered by Bhupesh Rana and other members of the Monu Rana gang on August 7, 2014."

Sources said, “Vivek was suspected to have provided information about Bhupesh Rana to the Bhupi Rana gang. To avenge Bhupesh Rana’s murder, Vivek was targeted by the Monu Rana gang.”

The two gangs had been involved in attacks on each other since 2011 and a number of clashes have been reported between them for gaining control over Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula and Yamunanagar districts.

Inspector Kanwaljeet Singh, in-charge, crime branch I, Ambala police, said, “Monu Rana was arrested on the basis of a tipoff.” A local court sent Monu Rana in two-day police remand. “We will investigate sequences leading to the murder of Vivek. Monu Rana has been active for last five to seven years in the area and has been involved in many cases pending in courts. We are confident of solving many other cases related to gangsters in the area.”

Ambala superintendent of police Abhishek Jorwal constituted the SIT, including Barara police station incharge, crime branch teams of Naraingarh and Ambala police. The SIT was conducting regular raids for past few months on suspected locations of Monu Rana.