Hry Police’s STF arrests three in murder case after 4 months

A special task force of Haryana Police arrested three suspects in connection to a four-month-old murder of a 27-year-old man, officers said on Wednesday.

The suspects—Vikram Singh, also known as Chaku, 31, Narender Singh, 27, and their associate Dalbir, alias Dinesh Pal, 20—were apprehended from the jungles of Harchandpur Milakh village in Sohna on Tuesday night, following a tip-off, police officers said.

According to police, the victim, Anuj Gujjar, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants near HBR Chowk in Sector 65 on the night of June 28, shortly after stopping for a juice break following his gym session. He was shot six times in the chest, abdomen, and head. Anuj, a resident of Kadarpur in Sector 10, worked as a bouncer and allegedly extorted money from local vendors around Sector 65, police said.

The murder, which had initially gone unsolved, prompted Haryana’s director general of police and the Gurugram police commissioner to announce a reward of ₹1.2 lakh for any information on the killers. The case was later handed over to the STF on October 7 for further investigation.

Senior police officials said based on their investigation, they learn that Vikram allegedly orchestrated the murder to settle a score with Anuj.

“Vikram wanted to set up a cigarette shop on an empty plot near HBR Chowk in April this year. Locals advised him not to proceed without Anuj’s permission. However, he went ahead, and Anuj severely assaulted him with an iron rod. Vikram planned Anuj’s murder in revenge,” said deputy superintendent of police Preet Pal Sangwan of the STF Gurugram unit.

The suspects used several tactics to avoid detection, according to Sangwan. “Vikram and Dalbir wore stolen Blinkit and Zomato delivery jackets and carried a food delivery box during the murder, which misled investigators. They avoided using phones while following Anuj and even during the murder and chose an unpaved road for their escape to avoid CCTV cameras. These efforts kept them off the police radar, allowing the case to remain unsolved for months,” Sangwan said.

STF officials said that the three accused, currently on a three-day police remand, had three pistols, cartridges, and a motorcycle allegedly used in the murder in their possession.

They added that Vikram had a history of violence, having bludgeoned a mason to death in 2019 following a dispute. He was out on bail after serving 21 months in prison. The trio also reportedly had eight theft cases registered against them.