Gangster who killed Congress leader held after shoot-out in Faridabad

Police arrested a 35-year-old gangster, one of Faridabad’s most wanted, after a shoot-out near Sekri, on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. Police said the gangster, Sachin Kheri, a close aide of Kaushal, has been involved in over 200 cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion and carjacking, including the recent murder of Haryana Congress leader Vikas Chaudhary.

Kheri sustained a bullet wound to his right leg during the chase, which lasted for half an hour. He was taken to a hospital and is undergoing treatment, senior police officers said.

KK Rao, Faridabad’s commissioner of police, said they received information around 12.15am that Kheri was in Faridabad. A team of Faridabad and Palwal police were put on alert and a special investigation team (SIT), which was formed in June to arrest Kaushal’s aides, rushed to the area.

“Around 1am, a man on a motorcycle was asked to stop at a barricade but he tried to speed away and upon chasing, started firing at the police. The SIT team, led by inspector Amit Sheokand, followed and shot five rounds, in self-defence, of which one bullet hit Kheri on the leg,” Rao said.

Palwal’s superintendent of police, Narender Bijarniya, who is a member of the SIT, said Kheri was Kaushal’s right-hand man and that he led the gang in Faridabad.

“He has been involved in at least 200 cases and was behind the murder of Haryana Congress leader Vikas Chaudhary, after he denied to pay Rs. 1 crore protection money to Kaushal. He had shot dead Chaudhary outside a gym in Sector 9 on June 27,” Bijarniya said.

Rao said Kheri had fired nine bullets that hit Chaudhary on his chest, arm and neck. He had fled the spot in an SX4 with four aides, who are on the run. The car was later abandoned in Sector 76, from where it was recovered. Eleven others, including Kaushal’s wife, were arrested in July for allegedly planning the murder and supplying arms to Kheri and his aides.

Chaudhary, a spokesperson for Congress in Haryana, had a criminal record and had 13 cases of extortion, abduction and attempt to murder against him in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The police had said that he was declared a bad character (BC) — a person who has a history of crime — at Sector 7 police station in Faridabad.

Kheri was last arrested in 2016 for allegedly firing at a liquor vend in Faridabad and was released on bail in 2017. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the Faridabad court and has been on the run. There was a reward of Rs. 25,000 for information leading to his arrest.

“Kheri used to work in close coordination with Kaushal and handled his hawala transactions from Faridabad. He was involved in carjacking cases in Palwal, Faridabad, Pataudi and Gurugram,” Bijarniya said.

Kheri used to operate from Faridabad and collected phone numbers of industrialists, hoteliers, businessmen and sweet shop owners after conducting reconnaissance of the cities.

“Kheri used to send the numbers to Kaushal, who used to make extortion calls and threaten the victims. In many cases, Kheri also shot small videos of the victims’ family members to threaten them. He has shared details of people from Gurugram, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Rewari,” said Rao.

Rao said a reward of Rs. 1 lakh was announced on Tuesday for the team that arrested Kheri.

A case under sections 307, 332 and 353 and 186 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act was registered at Ballabhgarh police station on Tuesday.

Two countrymade pistols of 9mm and one countrymade pistol of .32 bore were recovered from his possession, said police.

First Published: Sep 03, 2019 20:19 IST