Behind Noida condominium shooting, 2 Faridabad families & 9 years of revenge, murders

NOIDA/FARIDABAD: The contract killing of two people earlier this week in the parking area of a housing society in Noida has its genesis in a 2011 murder in Faridabad that set off an internecine saga of revenge and bloodshed between two families based in Panhera Kalan and Panhera Khurd, two adjoining villages in Faridabad.

The feud has claimed five lives and the families have spent nine years looking over their shoulders, living under the continuous spectre of revenge that has been served thrice in three different years and three different places – Faridabad in 2011, Mathura in 2017 and Noida on September 7, 2020.
The latest victim, Dal Chand Sharma, was living under a pseudonym.
After four days of investigation, one of the two arrested on Friday for ordering the hit on Sharma is Mohit Vats, who was 19 when his family’s hand was alleged in the murder of Sharma’s brother Rajinder and his associate Kapil. The other is Mohit’s uncle Suresh (51). Police said they picked up both from the Galaxy Vega roundabout in Noida Extension after receiving a tipoff that they were in the area. They were later produced in court and sent to judicial custody. Both have been booked for murder.
Sharma and a friend Arun Tyagi were gunned down by two shooters while they sat drinking in a car parked inside Ajnara Le Garden, a society where 2,000 families live. Police said they had identified the shooters as well.
Harish Chander, DCP (central Noida) said the enmity between the families of Sharma (of Panhera Kalan) and Vats (of Panhera Khurd) could be traced back all the way to 2009, two years before Rajinder’s murder. That year, Vats’ brother Shree Krishna, who used to work with Sharma’s family, was allegedly beaten up and humiliated (someone from the Sharma family allegedly urinated on him) for being disloyal.
“An FIR was lodged in Faridabad. Shree Krishna took revenge by killing Rajinder for which he remained in jail for nearly six years with uncles Suresh and Omveer, along with Suraj, Niranjan, Abhimanyu and three others,” he said. Soon after Krishna was released in 2017, Dal Chand Sharma hunted him down and killed him in Mathura. Sharma was arrested.
Sharma got bail six months after the murder. “He must have felt the danger due to which he changed his identity to Virat Sharma and started living in Casa Greens Society while starting a property dealership in Ajnara Le Garden,” said Chander, adding Suresh had been convicted for Rajinder’s murder but had since got parole 22 times.
Planning for Sharma’s murder began in February 2020, police said, when Suresh was released from Faridabad’s Neemka jail. “Krishna’s brother Mohit, who grew up on this rivalry, had revenge on his mind since his brother’s death. When Suresh came out of jail, he told him Dal Chand Sharma was living on a fake identity in Noida. He told Suresh he had done a recce of the area and they could kill Sharma,” Chander added.
Suresh, a dreaded criminal in Faridabad, conspired with Omveer, who too got bail. “Omveer was asked to make the plan to hire the two shooters (Tek Chand and Dealer alias Dayachand), who also got bail exactly 25 days before the murder,” Chander said, adding police identified the shooters from CCTV footage and worked backwards to join the dots. They subsequently investigated Vats and Omveer’s call records and location, which helped them uncover the plot.
Omveer had accompanied the shooters on the day of the murder, police said, but hadn’t entered the society. “It seems a white Scorpio that was seen in CCTV footage on the main road belonged to Omveer, who waited for the killers near Gate No. 2 from where the accused fled after firing over 11 rounds with 9mm automatic revolvers given to them by Suresh,” said Chander.
Police said Vats and Suresh had gone to meet Omveer at his house in mid-August. “Omveer, Tekchand and Dealer are on the run. A reward of Rs 25,000 has been announced for them,” Chander said.
In Panhera Kalan, the arrests of Suresh and Vats by UP Police was welcomed by Sharma’s father Om Prakash, a former sarpanch. The Sharma family has a different account of Rajinder’s murder – they claim Krishna had become jealous of Rajendra’s growing influence in the area. Dal Chand Sharma, Jacky to locals, was the only earning member of the family, relatives said. His wife and son have returned to Faridabad after his murder.
Faridabad police commissioner OP Singh said Noida police were probing the latest shooting while Haryana police had investigated the previous cases.
A show cause notice has, meanwhile, been issued to Evergreen the agency in charge of security at Ajnara Le Garden. The shooters entered from Gate No. 1 where no guard asked them anything and escaped from Gate No. 2 where the camera was not working, according to police. Two more cameras that were facing the main road were found non-functional. “There were major flaws in the security system of the society due to which such a brutal crime took place. A letter has been sent for cancellation of their licence,” Chander said.
Evergreen’s proprietor RP Singh Pawar said the suspects had entered through a small gate that opens into the market from the society. “There was a guard in the parking area but this gate had no one at the time of incident. We have closed this gate now,” Pawar said.