Man arrested for hiring killers to bump off brother

New Delhi: A 67-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly hiring contract killers to bump off his elder brother since he was jealous of the latter’s success in business, police said today.

Two others have also been arrested in connection with the matter.

In April, eight suspected members of Harender alias Heavy’s gang were arrested for allegedly planning to kill the proprietor of Taj Orient Hotel situated in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, following a shootout in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.

During investigation, it was found that one Chander Shekhar (67) and his close aide Shambhu (39) had hatched a plan to kill Shekhar’s elder brother Krishan Kumar Sharma, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ishwar Singh.

A dispute had been brewing between Sharma and Shekhar over partition of the business.

This dispute led Shekhar to involve Shambhu and then Vijay Naagar, in hatching a conspiracy to eliminate his brother, said the DCP. Shambhu and Naagar then contacted gangster Ravi Roopwas (32) and awarded him a contract of Rs two crore.

Several raids were conducted to arrest Shekhar and Shambhu but they kept evading the police.

On July 22, Shekhar and Shambhu were arrested from Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh.

Roopwas had surrendered in a previous case and had got himself lodged in Dasna Jail. He was arrested by the police here after completing due formalities.

Shekhar and his two brothers – Sharma and Naresh Kumar – had jointly started a hotel business in Agra.

The hotel business was being managed by Sharma and soon, other business ventures were also started from the profits made by the hotel.

Since the entire management of the hotel was in the hands of Sharma, his profile and personal earnings were consolidated. This made Shekhar insecure and envious.

When Sharma decided to part with his share in the hotel business, Shekhar thought that his fortunes will vanish in absence of Sharma’s management skills.

He hatched a conspiracy to get his brother killed so that he could become the sole owner of the various business ventures, said the officer.

—PTI