Gang war in Panchkula’s Barwala, 1 killed

PANCHKULA: A gangster was shot dead by rivals in Barwala township of Haryana’s Panchkula district on Monday morning. The murder comes just days after Punjabi singer Parmish Verma was targeted by a gangster in Mohali. In past few weeks, gang activities have increased in the Tricity with gangsters being involved in carjackings, bids to loot ATMs and abductions at gunpoint.

Bhupesh Rana, a member of jailed gangster Monu Rana’s group, was targeted by rival gang’s Gaurav Rana and four of his associates outside the busy Shiv temple, just metres from his residence at around 9.30 am.

The assailants shot eight bullets at Bhupesh and ensured he was dead before fleeing. Gaurav, a member of Bhupinder Rana’s gang, and the murdered gangster were residents of Barwala.

Gangster was heading to Ambala for hearing
The two gangs have been targeting each other since 2011.

Bhupesh was an undertrial in a 2014 gang war case. He was in jail for three years and was only bailed out a year ago. The case is yet to be resolved.

Bhupesh’s younger brother Prateek said the gangster was heading for a court hearing in a murder case in Ambala when he was killed.

The five assailants, according to an eyewitness, were waiting in a Maruti Swift car, bearing HR-06-AJ-2106 registration plate, just metres from Bhupesh’s residence.

Bhupesh was in his Maruti Alto and was talking a friend, Sunil Kumar who was on an Activa scooter when the assailants opened fire.

“After I came out of the temple, I was talking to Bhupesh when I suddenly heard a gunshots. I rushed from the spot to save my life and after stopping a few metres away, I saw Gaurav along with three persons, armed with pistols, firing at Bhupesh. When Bhupesh tried to escape, he was shot in leg and fell down. Later, the assailants shot six bullets in his chest and abdomen. One of the assailants said they must check whether Bhupesh had been killed. Then Gaurav fired a shot in Bhupesh’s head,” said Sunil.

Chandimandir SHO Mahmood Khan said Gaurav Rana has been booked along with Bhupinder Rana, Sahil Rana, Patta, Rinku and Ashok under Section 302 (murder), 120-B (conspiracy) and section 25 of the Arms Act.

The cops have detained a person in connection with the murder. “We have zeroed in on a suspect, who we believe informed the rival gang about Bhupesh’s activities. The suspect is on the run and we have detained his brother for now. Teams have been dispatched to arrest for the assailants,” assistant superintendent of police Mohit Handa said.

Bhupesh’s family members and supporters blocked the National Highway (NH-73) for over five hours by placing his body on road and his associates forced a complete shutdown in Barwala. They demanded suspension of the police post incharge and alleged that they had informed the police three days ago about a threat to Bhupesh’s life, but the cops did not take any action.

ASP Handa said after taking cognisance of the locals’ statement, the police post incharge, ASI Ram Mahir was transferred to the police lines. The protesters allowed the police to remove the body at around 5 pm to mortuary for a post-mortem.

Local MLA Gian Chand Gupta and Panchkula SDM Pankaj Setia too tried to placate the protesters, who also demanded a government job for a family member of the gangster and also demanded compensation.