Ponty Chadha's bid to take possession of farmhouse led to shooting

Investigators today said the killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep was sparked off by the former's alleged attempt to take possession of a south Delhi farmhouse on which they were locked in a dispute over ownership.

Police questioned 15 persons after registering two cases in connection with the killing of Ponty and his younger brother at the farmhouse in Chattarpur.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident which was triggered by Ponty's alleged attempt to lock up the farmhouse when his brother was away, a senior police official said.

While one case was registered under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and Arms Act on a complaint filed Ponty's friend Uttarkhand Minority Commission member Sukhdev Namdhari, the other was registered by Hardeep's manager against Ponty's men on charges of tresspassing and murder.

Namdhari had come to the spot with Ponty.

"Hardeep first fired at Ponty and Narender. Then Namdhari's PSO in a bid to save him opened fire at Hardeep. There was then firing from guards from both sides. This is what people whom we have questioned told us," the official said.

Ponty suffered 12 bullet wounds while Hardeep had taken four on his body. Narender, Ponty's guard, was also seriously injured and underwent surgery in hospital.

Investigators said they were looking into call records of Ponty, whose real name is Gurdeep, and his brother to build the exact sequence of events that led to the incident in which guards of both the brothers opened fire.

Initial probe has revealed that Ponty's men had gone to the farmhouse, threw out Hardeep's staff and got the gates locked yesterday morning, the official said.

Hardeep was not at the farmhouse at the time of the incident and was in a meeting in Noida.

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