One held for killing ex-MLA and his driver

Delhi Police arrested on Saturday one of the accused who has been absconding on charges of the murder of former INLD MLA Bharat Singh and also on charges of killing his driver, Vipin Chaudhary in Outer Delhi’s Rohini area.  The accused has been identified as Ravi Shokeen (22).

According to the police, Shokeen killed Singh in March at a marriage function with the help of his accomplices, Udaiveer and Hemant (Nephew of Udaiveer). Bharat Singh was shot dead following a rivalry between his brother Krishan Pehelwan and Udaiveer. However, Udaiveer along with six others are already lodged in Tihar jail while Hemant is still on the run.

According to senior police officials, the rivalry began in 2002 when Krishna Pehelwan killed Udaiveer’s father, his brother Sukhbir Singh and his uncle Narayan Singh. Pehelwan killed them since he wanted to eliminate all his competitors from the area.  Since then, Udaiveer decided to take revenge and planned to kill elder brother of Pehelwan Bharat Singh. Though Udaiveer attacked Singh in 2009 also, Singh escaped the attack but could not in March when Udaiveer with Shokeen, Hemant and their shooters, again attacked him at a marriage function he attended. Singh succumbed to his injuries. However, his driver Vipin who witnessed the whole attack was safe. Despite the security given to Vipin after his master Singh was murdered, he was killed near Japanese Park on December 9. The murder was conspired by Ravi Shokeen, Hemant and their accomplices by using Vipin’s girlfriend as a bait to lure him to his death. The girl was arrested on December 10.

According to the police, as they swung into action after Vipin’s murder, they got a tip-off that Shokeen will come at Rajiv Chowk in Gurgaon at 7.30 pm on Saturday. Police laid a trap to nab him and succeeded as per the plan. On interrogation, Shokeen revealed that he was a friend of Hemant and empathised with him on his father and grandfather’s death. He planned to help him on taking revenge on Pehelwan. He futher revealed that he along with Hemant used Vipin’s girlfriend as a bait to reach to the latter. As planned, they killed Vipin so as to eliminate the prime witness of Singh’s murder. It also emerged from the interrogation that Shokeen with Hemant were planning to eliminate other associates of Pehelwan.