NEW DELHI, NOV 17:
Controversial liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his estranged brother Hardeep were killed today when they and their guards traded gunfire after an argument during a meeting called to resolve their property dispute at a farmhouse in south Delhi.
55-year-old Ponty and his brother Hardeep, with whom he had a strained relationship due to property dispute, were shot at in their chests during the meeting at the former’s farmhouse in Chhattarpur at around 1 pm. One of the guards also suffered injuries in the incident.
The three Chadha brothers—Ponty, Hardeep and Rajinder—were jointly managing the Rs 6,000-crore Wave Inc, formerly Chadha Group, which has diverse business interests in fields ranging from distilleries, multiplexes, sugar to paper mills, real estate, poultry and films.
Sources said Hardeep, along with his men, had gone to the farm house following a call from Ponty for a meeting to discuss the dispute over ownership of a property.
It started on a peaceful note but soon turned ugly, following which Hardeep allegedly opened fire at his brother, sources said.
This enraged the guards of Ponty who returned the fire in which Hardeep was killed, they said.
Both the groups opened fire at each other. After Hardeep opened fire, Ponty and guards from both sides also opened fire, the sources added.
Around 30-40 rounds were fired and police later recovered two pistols and empty cartridges from the scene.
Both the brothers were taken to hospitals where they were declared brought dead. Their bodies were shifted to AIIMS for post mortem.
Ponty is believed to have taken six bullets on his body.
This is the second incident of firing at Ponty Chadha’s residence. On October 5, firing had taken place at his ancestral home in Moradabad.
Chadha’s business empire encompasses distilleries, multiplexes, sugar and paper mills, real estate, poultry and films. He was producer of the Sunny Deol starrer ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal’.
Chadha, considered close to UP politicians, is one of the prominent names in liquor business in Uttar Pradesh and was granted the sole distributorship for liquor.
Forensic and crime teams visited the spot and have lifted finger prints and other evidences from the spot. Empty cartridges have also been recovered.
Ponty Chadha had hit the headlines earlier this year when the I-T Department conducted searches at his premises in February covering 13 locations in Delhi, including posh Sainik Farms, Lajpat Nagar, New Friends Colony, and in six locations in Noida, Moradabad and Lucknow.
Police sources said two pistols were recovered from the spot and they are banking on the statement of a guard who was injured in the firing.
Sources said at least a dozen rounds were fired.
Hardeep’s lawyer Gaurang Kanth said there were a “lot of problems” regarding property division following the death of their father Kulwant Singh Chadha.
“I feel that the whole issue has escalated out of hand and the whole incident can be attributed to the long-drawn battle between them,” he said.
Kanth said both the brothers wanted to go separate ways after their father’s death. “There were a lot of joint family properties and they were negotiating for settling this dispute. The talks were not going in the right direction,” Kanth said.
He said the “real provocation could be that there was no forward movement in the negotiations and it had come to a point where lot of ill-will had been generated between them,” he said. (PTI)
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