Ponty's security manager to help reframe shoot-out

Cops think he is fourth main witness, first to be shot at

Delhi Police are likely to question and take Ponty Chadha’s security manager Narendra Ahlawat to the disputed Chattarpur farmhouse to recreate events leading to the November 17 shoot-out that claimed the lives of the liquor baron and his younger brother Hardeep.

Narendra is believed to be the first person to be shot at during the 30-minute crossfire, and has been undergoing treatment at Gurgaon’s Medanta Medicity for gunshot wound on his leg. According to police, they consider Narendra as the fourth main witness.

“We believe that he may help establish the sequence of events, number of bullets fired and sacked Uttarakhand minority commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari’s role in the whole episode,” a police official said.

In his statement to police, Namdhari has said Narendra was with him and Ponty at 42 DLF Central Drive farmhouse. Ponty and Namdhari were travelling in Ponty’s Toyota Land Cruiser car, while Narendra was following in another car.

Namdhari claimed that the main gate of the farmhouse was found locked from outside after which Narendra asked the staff present inside to get the key.

“Namdhari said Narendra was just opening the gate, when Hardeep arrived there with his personal security officers and several armed men in separate cars,” the official added.

It is alleged that Hardeep shot at Narendra without saying a word and went on to open fire at Ponty after a heated argument. Namdhari’s PSO Sachin Tyagi has also told police that Narendra was near the gate when Hardeep grabbed him by the neck and shot at his leg.

Several teams of Delhi Police’s crime branch and Central Forensic Science Laboratory have inspected the crime spot to establish the sequence of events. On Tuesday, Tyagi was taken there along with Ponty’s driver Raj Dev. The four-hour-long reconstruction was videographed.

“We will collate statements, evidence available, post-mortem reports and findings of ballistic report to ascertain what happened at the farmhouse,” the official said.
Sources further claimed that Namdhari and Tyagi’s statements about the sequence of events were not in harmony. Police are also trying to ascertain how Hardeep’s .32mm pistol was found broken at the spot.

Ponty and Hardeep’s families have not been questioned so far, but police did not rule out their possible confrontation with Namdhari.