Namdhari ‘admits’ shot Hardeep, charged with attempt to murder

Seeking his custody, police said Namdhari was the front man of Ponty Chadha and that they needed to unearth the "deep-rooted conspiracy" behind the shootout. "Many other persons are also involved... Persons having assets of over Rs 1,000 crore are likely to be involved in the conspiracy," Public Prosecutor Manoj Choudhary said.

While police claimed Namdhari had confessed in his disclosure statement to having fired at Hardeep with his pistol after the latter allegedly pointed a gun at him, he denied the same speaking to TV channels. The charges are "a political conspiracy", he repeated.

Speaking to reporters as he left the court, Namdhari claimed the shooting was "an accident". "I just want to say it was an accident and the FIR was lodged by me. I called the police myself," he asserted.

Police hope to locate the .32 bore pistol allegedly used to shoot at Hardeep as well as the whereabouts of some of Namdhari's co-accused during Namdhari's interrogation in custody.

The co-accused are believed to be in hiding in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, including Vimlesh, one of Ponty's gunners, for whom searches were made in Firozabad. Raids are also being conducted in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, while teams have been dispatched to Tajpur, Kashipur, Pilibhit, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Hastinapur.

The fact that Namdhari had not disclosed earlier of having shot Hardeep and hidden his gun strengthened the case against him, police believe.

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