Ponty case: U'khand police to probe constable's role

With the name of an Uttarakhand police constable cropping up in connection with the killing of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother in Delhi, the Uttarakhand police has sent a team to the national capital to ascertain facts about his alleged role in the shootout.

A police team headed by Inspector Pramod Shah has been sent to Delhi to find out facts about alleged role of Sachin Tyagi, an Uttarakhand police constable, in the incident at the farmhouse in which the liquor baron and his brother Hardeep were killed, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Satyavrat Bansal said in Dehradun.

There have been reports about the alleged involvement of Tyagi, currently posted as a gunner with state minority commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, in the shootout that took place allegedly in their presence on Saturday.

Bansal said as per information being gathered by the state police in this regard, two FIRs have been registered in connection with the shootout with the Delhi police, one each by Namdhari and Hardeep's PA Nandlal.

Around 50-60 persons have been named as accused in the FIR lodged by Nandlal in connection with the shootout, Bansal said but added that it is still not clear whether Tyagi has been named as an accused in the FIR or not.

The DGP said he has been informed that Namdhari in his FIR has said Tyagi fired a few shots in his defence at the time of the shootout.

There have been reports about Tyagi firing shots at Ponty Chaddha's brother Hardeep when he tried to shoot Namdhari.

Namdhari was appointed the chairman of the Uttarakhand minority commission during the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state in 2010 and Tyagi has been his gunner for over a year, Bansal said.

However, the DGP clarified he is conducting no parallel investigation in the case as the incident occurred in the national capital and any probe in this regard falls within the jurisdiction of the Delhi police.

Bansal said he has not been approached by the Delhi police for any cooperation in its investigation into the case.

Replying to a question, he said it is still not clear as to why Namdhari was present along with Chaddha at the farmhouse at the time of the shootout.

He, however, said a personal or business association between Namdhari and the slain liquor baron cannot be ruled out.

Bansal also admitted that some cases were lodged against Namdhari in Uttarakhand. But he could not say what type of cases they were and in which part of the state they have been registered.