Two more arrested in encounter for Bawana businessman’s murder in February

Police also said that a case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act against the arrested accused for firing at the police team.

The accused have been identified as Mohd Irfan (40), a resident of Northeast Delhi’s Chand Bagh, and Aishwary Panday (37), a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.

An incident of firing was reported around 11:45 am on February 9 in front of factories J-133 and J-21 in Sector-4 of the DSIIDC industrial area in Bawana, police had said. Vaibhav Gandhi, a businessman who operated from the area, sustained gunshot injuries in the attack and was taken to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital, where he was declared dead, they said, adding that a case was subsequently registered at Bawana police station under BNS sections 103(1) (murder), 309(6) (robbery), and 3(5) (common intent), along with sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

According to the police, CCTV camera footage from that day showed three bike-borne men who chased Gandhi’s car before shooting him. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang allegedly claimed responsibility for the murder through a social media post, stating that the victim was eliminated for “interfering in their operations”.

The post also mentioned prominent gangs like Jitender Gogi, Hashim Baba and Kala Rana.

However, a week later, police arrested five men and uncovered an alleged plot to rob Gandhi of Rs 1 crore. Ravindra Yadav, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) had earlier said, “…so far, no gang links have come to fore. The accused wanted to rob the businessman and had been planning this for two-three months. They had carried out recess too. On the day of the incident, they tried to rob him. He stepped out of the car and started running. The initial plan of the accused was to take his car along with the money, but the car keys were with the businessman. Thus they shot him in order to stop him.” The cash was recovered from Gandhi’s car after the failed loot bid, police had said.

Police said Irfan has been involved in 40 cases — including attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, theft and snatching — registered in Delhi and UP. Panday has been involved in five cases, including attempt to murder and offences under the Arms Act and the Gangster Act, they said.

Officers said that the five others arrested earlier were identified as Arun alias Pagal, Sandeep alias Pujari, Sanjay alias Tau or Ajay, Ravinder alias Ravi, and Harish Kumar alias Sonu. Police said efforts to identify the broader network behind the murder are on.