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Shots were fired outside actor Disha Patani’s ancestral house in Bareilly for two consecutive days last week because the Rohit Godara-Goldy Brar gang was dissatisfied with the shooters on the first day, police said on Friday.
When two shooters, both minors, allegedly conducted reconnaissance of the house and fired a round in the air on September 11 before fleeing, the incident went unnoticed, said police. Dissatisfied with this, the gang allegedly then picked two men for the job, who fired 10-12 rounds outside the house the next day.
Police said the two minors were apprehended on Friday. “Their movement was caught on CCTV cameras near Patani’s residence on September 11 around 4.40 am,” said an officer.
According to a source in police, when these shooters, hailing from UP, informed Godara through their handlers that they had fired one round, this agitated him. “He then asked for the other two.”
These two men, Ravindra and Arun, were gunned down in Ghaziabad on Wednesday in a joint operation by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), Delhi Police Crime Intelligence Unit, and Haryana STF.
The minors, who were apprehended in the Capital by a team of the Delhi Police’s Counter-Intelligence Unit, will be handed over to the Bareilly Police. Officers said two semi-automatic pistols were found on them.
“They had joined the gang two months ago. On September 12, they had accompanied Ravindra and Arun on another bike to Patani’s residence,” said an officer.
The day also saw UP Police apprehending another accused in the case — who allegedly conducted reconnaissance and arranged motorcycles for the shooters — from Bareilly.
Identified as Ram Kishan alias Deepak, a resident of Rajasthan, he was detained following an exchange of fire between him and the police team.
“Acting on a tip-off, a team laid a trap on the outskirts of Bareilly, where he was planning to cross the border into Nepal. On spotting the police, he opened fire, and in retaliation, Deepak was shot in the leg. He has been admitted to the hospital, while his companion, Anil, was arrested,” said SSP Bareilly Anurag Arya.
He added that a cash reward of Rs 25,000 had been announced to track Deepak. Anil is being questioned for his possible involvement in the matter, police said.
Meanwhile, days after the two alleged shooters of the Rohit Godara-Goldy Brar gang were gunned down, a cryptic social media post purportedly aimed at the gang surfaced on Friday.
The post appeared on an account reportedly operated by Harry Boxer, who claims to be a member of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s group.
The message said, “Someone who used to be a traitor is now suddenly preaching… All brothers are hereby informed: do not be misled by such traitors. These people are only concerned with making money for themselves, and it is because of such actions that they were removed from the group”. While the post did not name anyone explicitly, police suspect it was meant for the Godara-Brar gang.
Godara and Brar were former members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. However, recent reports indicate that the duo has cut ties with Lawrence and is operating independently from abroad.
After the firing outside Patani’s home, the Godara-Brar gang had claimed responsibility via a social media post, stating that it was in retaliation for an alleged insult by Disha’s sister, Khushboo, toward spiritual leaders Premanand Ji Maharaj and Anirudh Acharya Ji Maharaj.
After the police shootout left the alleged shooters dead, the gang posted again on Thursday, calling the incident a “big setback.” Another message, purportedly from an account named Rohit Godara, warned that “no one will be spared”.
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