Mohali: Student among four sent to three-day police custody

A day after police arrested four out of a total of 15 men, including students of a private university in Gharuan, who allegedly opened fire outside a house in Modern Valley, Kharar, the accused were sent to a three-day police remand by a local court on Tuesday.

The firing, which took place on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, was a fallout of an old rivalry with the tenants of the house.

One of the accused, Mantim Yadav, who had suffered a bullet injury, had been admitted at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, and was taken into custody after being discharged from the hospital. Apart from him, Raunak Chaudhary, Monty and one other accused were arrested.

Those booked for the December 30 attack include Ayush Rao, Aryan Basant and Ankush Hudda, all three are former students of the aforesaid varsity, along with Raunak Chaudhary, Sahil Yadav and Ujjwal Tyagi, current students of the varsity besides Mantim Yadav and six unidentified men.

Meanwhile, police are yet to arrest the absconding accused. When asked about the weapon used in the crime, a senior cop said, “We will investigate the accused now and will ascertain who brought or used the crime weapon. It is clear from the CCTV footage that the accused before opening fire outside the house of the complainant also vandalised another house in GBP, Bhago Majra. We have also arrested the accused in a separate FIR lodged at Sadar Kharar police station for trespassing, rioting and vandalising the house following the complaint of the house owner, Amit Sharma.” Police said four bullet shells were found at the spot.

Complainant Gaurav, 24, an MBA final-year student, said he had taken a flat on rent with two others from his campus-- Dilpreet Singh, an MBA student, and Sahil, a B-pharmacy student – and a fourth tenant.

“That night, we had all retired to our rooms after dinner. Around midnight, we heard some gunshots and then the sound of glass shattering. When we looked through the kitchen window, we saw the accused vandalising Dilpreet’s car with rods, baseball bats and other sharp-edged weapons,” said Gaurav.

He said the accused then fired a few more shots and started calling his name out. “They were threatening to kill me,” said the complainant, adding that the men had to eventually leave as one of the bullets hit one of their men.

Revealing that the accused had an old rivalry with him, Gaurav said the accused had opened fire outside another student’s house on September 14. “We had identified the men behind the attack. Some of them were students at our college while a few were pass-outs. Our statements before the police had led to their arrest, due to which they nursed a grudge against us. The latest attack was a fallout of that,” said Gaurav.

A case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 427 (mischief and thereby causes loss or damage), 458 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), and under Sections of the Arms Act was registered at Kharar City police station.