Gangster Kaushal's aide who shot Congress neta held

GURUGRAM: Gangster Kaushal’s close aide Sachin Khedi (35), who played a crucial role in the murder of Congress functionary Vikas Chaudhary, was arrested by police teams from Faridabad and Palwal on Tuesday after a brief gunfight. According to police, Khedi shot Chaudhary dead.
Khedi and his gang members, police said, followed Chaudhary from his home to the gym before shooting him dead on June 28 in Faridabad. More than 20 cases have been registered against Khedi in Gurugram, Faridabad and Rewari. He was looking after the extortion racket of Kaushal, and used to collect the extortion money and sent it to Kaushal through hawala transactions. He was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.

Palwal police chief Narender Birjania, who is heading the special investigation team (SIT) formed to investigate murder of the Congress functionary, received a tip-off around 12.15am on Tuesday that Khedi was moving towards Faridabad. Following this, teams of Faridabad and Palwal police were alerted, and they intercepted Khedi in Ballavgarh area.
Police asked Khedi, who was riding a two-wheeler, to stop but he tried to flee. When the police team started to chase him, Khedi opened fire at it. In retaliation, police also opened fire and one of the bullets hit Khedi’s right leg. He fell on the ground. The accused was apprehended and taken to BK Hospital in Faridabad. A country-made pistol and a two-wheeler were seized from Khedi. Police registered a fresh case against Khedi for obstructing police work at Sadar police station of Faridabad.
“Khedi is the main aide of Kaushal, and he was managing the gang’s operation upon the direction of the gangster. Khedi is involved in several cases of extortion, murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping among several other heinous crimes,” said Birjania.
Khedi had been on the run since 2012. He was also involved in carjacking in Palwal, Pataudi and Gurugram. Khedi was arrested a day after gangster Kaushal was taken into custody by Faridabad police as part the probe into Chaudhary’s murder. During the initial interrogation, it was revealed that Kaushal had demanded Rs 1 crore from Chaudhary. Kaushal had made extortion calls to five more people in Faridabad.
“Chaudhary refused to pay the money. He even talked to others who had received extortion calls from Kaushal and asked them not to pay the amount. According to Chaudhary, Kaushal is not that a big criminal enough to make extortion calls,” said a police officer.
When Chaudhary and others refused to make the payment, Khedi advised Kaushal to kill the Congress functionary. “They decided that among all their targets, the Congress functionary was popular, and his murder would send message to others. This will help them expand their extortion racket,” said the officer.