Vishesh Gupta murder case: Cops conduct raid in Srinagar, Gurdaspur to nab Karandeep's accomplices

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 2

The police teams on Sunday conducted a raid in Srinagar and Gurdaspur to arrest the remaining three suspects who were involved in iron trader Vishesh Gupta’s murder.

During interrogation of Karandeep Singh, the prime suspect, the police zeroed in on his three accomplices, including a Jammu and Kashmir resident Mohammad Sakib. Other two, who had shot Gupta, were identified as Shelly and Gurmeet Singh of Gurdaspur.

Vishesh Gupta murder case

The perpetrators’ actual target was Shivam Gupta, the cousin of the deceased. Shivam was engaged to a girl in Pathankot area, who allegedly had an affair with Karandeep Singh. Karandeep had approached Shivam’s family and asked them to reject the marriage proposal while issuing threats. The shooters reportedly, mistook Vishesh as Shivam and shot him.

According to sources, after shooting Gupta dead, the accused went to Sakib in Jammu and Kashmir, who arranged their stay near Srinagar. Sakib was the son of timber trader and Karandeep’s classmate in a private institution in Jammu.

On Karandeep’s information, the police also recovered a car from Delhi while a mobile phone used in the crime was yet to be recovered. He had hidden the mobile phone at a rented accommodation, where he along with his accomplices were living after the murder.

“Police parties were despatched to arrest the trio besides recovering the mobile used to communicate for killing Vishesh,” said police sources, adding that the weapons used in the crime were yet to be recovered.

Karandeep was arrested by the police from Gurdaspur on December 26 and was remanded in police custody till December 30. The court again extended his remand till January 3. He would be produced in court on Monday.

During preliminary probe, the police found that Gupta’s murder was a handiwork of ‘supari’ killers. He was shot at by two unidentified bike-borne persons on December 11 outside his shop, when he sat in his car after closing down the shop. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Noida.

The police had booked Karandeep Singh of Khat Khokhar area in Gurdaspur and his unidentified accomplices at that time. The perpetrators’ actual target was Shivam Gupta, the cousin of the deceased. Shivam was engaged to a girl in Pathankot area, who allegedly had an affair with Karandeep Singh. Karandeep had approached Shivam’s family and asked them to reject the marriage proposal while issuing threats. The shooters reportedly, mistook Vishesh as Shivam and shot him.

Joint Commissioner of Police D Sudarvizhi, who is heading the SIT formed to crack the murder case, said raids were on to arrest Karandeep’s accomplices. Further investigations were under progress.

Advocate Ravi Mahajan, the counsel for victim’s family, said Karandeep had filed a plea in court to secure the CCTV footage of Gurdaspur Civil Hospital and a restaurant on December 11, when Vishesh was shot dead by unidentified persons claiming his innocence. He said the police while securing the CCTV cameras footage should thoroughly investigate from all angles. He said the police should also recover weapons and bike used in the crime. 

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