Three gangsters, including two shooters allegedly behind the west Delhi’s Burger King murder last month, were shot dead on Friday in a joint operation by the Haryana Police and the Delhi Crime Branch in Sonipat.
A day after the shootout, a police official said that a total of 43 shots of bullets were exchanged in the shootout between gangsters and a joint police team which also left one Delhi Police Sub Inspector Amit of the Crime Branch injured. The gangsters fired 24 shots as the police retaliated with 19 shots.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch team was led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Umesh Bharatwal under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Amit Goel. DCP West Sonipat Narinder Singh said that a Haryana Police Special Task Force (STF) member also suffered injuries. Another police official from Sonipat said the encounter took place on Chhinoli Road in Kharkhoda.
Ashish alias Lalu, Sunny Kharar and Vicky Ridhana, all three hailing from Haryana, died in the shootout. Ashish and Vicky allegedly also shot 26-year-old Aman Joon dead at a Rajouri Garden Burger King outlet on June 18.
After getting a tip-off, Special Commissioner of Police (crime) Shalini Singh said the team intercepted the trio travelling in a Kia Seltos car on Rohtak-Chinauli road around 8.40 pm. Sensing police presence, they tried to flee from the spot and went towards a 'kachha' road but their vehicle got stuck near a farm.
The officer said the accused persons started firing upon the police party while sitting inside the car. They fired around 24 shots at the police party and one bullet each hit SI Amit on his leg and the bullet-proof jackets worn by Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Goel and ACP Umesh Barthwal. In self-defence, the police party also retaliated and fired, the officer said. Another officer said the police party fired 19 shots, Sunny receiving five of them, and Ashish and Vicky receiving three each.
The officer said the gangsters were facing multiple criminal cases, including 20 cases against Sunny, three against Vicky and four against Sunny, ranging from murder, attempt to murder and extortion in Delhi and Haryana.
All three of them were members of the Himanshu Bhau gang. Himanshu Bhau is suspected to be operating from Spain and Portugal in Europe. A week ago, a purported social media post claimed that the police had picked the trio and they might be killed in a fake encounter. The police officer said the post was later deleted as it might be a part of their tactic to build pressure on the police. The officer clarified that the accused were never held by the police before their encounter in Sonipat on Friday.
The officer further said all three deceased were not scared of opening fire on anyone and had allegedly opened fire previously at various auto showrooms, sweetshops and threatened businessmen to extort money.
The officer said Ashish and Vicky were also involved in the shooting and killing of a businessman outside Gulshan Daba in Murthal in March. The Haryana Police has announced rewards of over Rs 1 lakh on both of them.