Jammu-based gangster shot dead in Mohali

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Mohali, March 4

Armed assailants shot dead a Jammu-based gangster, Rajesh Dogra (45), outside a shopping mall in Sector 67 here this afternoon.

Around 12:22 pm, four or five assailants sprayed bullets at the unsuspecting victim, who was accompanied by two others, leaving him dead on the roadside within a matter of minutes.

The police said the assailants were waiting for their target across the road in two SUVs — one carrying Chandigarh registration number and the other registered in Jammu — before firing around 10 rounds and then fleeing the spot. The police and a forensic team arrived at the spot and began investigation.

Police officials confirmed the incident as the fallout of a gang war between two rival groups of Jammu.

Dogra had come out of jail recently. Several cases are registered against him and one of his two accomplices, who was later nabbed by police. The police suspect Dogra’s accomplice, who fled the spot after the incident, might have a role in the killing. Eight FIRs are already registered against his arrested accomplice, they added.

Ropar Range IGP Jaskaran Singh said, “The assailants and the victim belong to two rival gangs of Jammu. One person accompanying the victim has been nabbed while the other escaped. Their vehicle, weapons and mobile phones have been recovered.”

The police were tight-lipped as to why a Jammu-based gangwar precipitated in Mohali, but passed it off as a skirmish during transit.

Dogra, alias Mohan Cheer, a native of Reasi, reportedly used to run a tea stall outside the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department office in Jammu. He allegedly indulged in pilfering ration and kerosene but shot to notoriety after shooting gangster Sanjay Kumar, alias Bakra, in 2006. Dogra had murder, attempt to murder, Arms Act and Public Safety Act case registered against him.

All in a month

• February 27: Bike-borne suspects fire five rounds at an eatery in Sector 79, targeting Bunty Bains, owner of a music company related to Sidhu Moosewala. Two gangsters have been nabbed.
• February 28: The police exchange gunfire with Agra gangster Banwari Pal, a member of the Lucky Patial gang, at Chappar Chiri. He was stated to be on a recce to target a Punjabi singer.
• February 8: The State Special Operations Cell arrests gangster Rajan Bhatti after a brief encounter in Sector 71. Bhatti, a resident of Mustfabad village in Gurdaspur, got shot in the leg. He is said to be a close associate of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa.