Liquor contractor shot dead by 2 assailants in Kurukshetra

Indian Express

15 hours ago

A liquor contractor was shot dead from point blank range by two assailants while he was on his way from Kurukshetra to Chandigarh.
The deceased was identified as Shantanu, a resident of Matan village in Jhajjar district, Haryana.
The incident took place late on Friday near Meena market on the national highway in Shahbad of Kurukshetra.
Police said that Shantanu had stopped his car to purchase some things from a shop, when two motorcycle borne men approached him and fired seven bullets.
The assailants sped away, while the onlookers informed the police and Shantanu died on the spot. The post mortem examination was conducted today by a board of doctors at LNJP hospital.
Members of Kala Rana gang claimed responsibility for Shantanu's murder.
Investigating officers said they were yet verifying the authenticity of the claim that was made through a social media post by Noni Rana who claimed that he got Shantanu murdered.
He also tagged Lawrence Bishnoi and various other criminals in his post.
Police also received an audio clip purportedly made by Noni Rana in which he claimed that 'nobody who files criminal cases against us will be spared'.
Police said that Shantanu's driver Prince lodged the written complaint with the police in which he mentioned that he was accompanying Shantanu in the car from Barara crossing to Saha crossing towards Chandigarh on Friday evening.
He added that he stopped the car because Shantanu wanted to buy cigarette and some other things.
When Shantanu stepped out of the car and was walking to a cigarette vendor, two black colour motorbike borne youths reached near him and fired gunshots.
Prince added that he tried to pin down the assailants and even hit their bike with his car, but they managed to flee.
Prince told the police that he took Shantanu to nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Police added that 'the onlookers tried to catch hold of the assailants, but they managed to escape on foot. However, they snatched another motorbike at gunpoint a few minutes later and escaped by riding the motorbike on the wrong side of the highway towards Ambala.
Shantanu had recently purchased 18 liquor vends worth approximately Rs 19 crores and was operating in Shahbad and nearby areas for the last few years. 'Suspects are being rounded up and questioned. I had reached the crime scene with other officers, last evening. Teams have been constituted who are on the lookout of the assailants,' SP (Kurukshetra) Nitish Aggarwal said.
Investigating officer added that they were scanning the CCTV footage of the area and were also using technical surveillance to identify and nab the assailants.
'The murder, prima-facie, appears to be result of an old rivalry or a dispute in the liquor trade. We are also verifying the extortion angle,' an officer said.
Meanwhile, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, 'There is goondaraj in Haryana. This is the reason why goons and miscreants are fearlessly committing crimes and general public is forced to live in the shadow of fear. A few days ago in Rohtak, miscreants fired at a liquor shop, posted a video on Instagram; ransom of Rs 50 lakhs was demanded from a businessman in Hansi; in another incident gunshots were fired at a toll plaza, bullets were also fired at a fertilizer shop, ransom of Rs 50 lakhs was demanded from a factory owner and most recently, liquor contractor was shot dead in Kurukshetra. A man was murdered in Pinjore two days after he was threatened.'