The Delhi Police is probing the role of Colonel (Retd) Devinder Kumar in the murder of dreaded criminal Bhupender Dariyapur alias Monu, who was killed in a gang war on Sunday night.
The Colonel was arrested recently for poaching by the DRI in Meerut after a 17-hour-raid at his residence resulted in the recovery of 117 kgs of nilgai meat, animal skin, ivory and 40 guns.
Police sources said that they are probing the role of Devinder Kumar since he was allegedly furious with Amit Goel, a close friend of Monu.
Explaining the link between Monu and the Colonel, a police officer privy to the investigation said, “Monu and Amit Goel are close friends. Mohan Mittal, Amit’s uncle had given out his Rs2.5 crore bungalow to Monu to live in with his wife. They also knew the Colonel.”
On May 1, Amit Goel was arrested from Delhi airport after police received a tip-off that he had 20 illegal firearms.
Monu and Goel suspected that it was the Colonel who informed the cops.
The officer said, “After the raids at the Colonel’s house in Meerut, associates of the ex-Army officer were enraged as they suspected that Monu was behind the arrest as he wanted to avenge his friend’s arrest.
“We are suspicious that the Mianwali Nagar shootout was due to this ill feeling. This is the first angle.
“However, we have not ruled out the role of Sonu Dariyapur, the alleged friend- turned-enemy of Monu, in the murder.
“On Tuesday, we called Mohan Mittal, for questioning. Apart from that, 11 other people were also called for questioning.”
Sleuths of the Special Cell working on the Mianwali Nagar shootout in which Monu along with his associate and a Delhi Police ASI were gunned down, visited the crime scene on Monday night to recreate the exact sequence of events.
Based on the statement of the Constable Kuldeep who was injured in the indiscriminate firing opened on the gangster while he was eating at the Shakeen chowk, police recreated the crime scene.
Apart from the Special Task Force, six teams from the Special Cell and eight to nine teams of the Crime Branch are working on this shootout case. A total of 26 teams of the Delhi Police are trying to solve the case at the earliest.