DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand STF on Saturday arrested a 19-year-old shooter, Rohit Changal, from Kichha (Udham Singh Nagar) for allegedly killing a man in Punjab's Tarn Taran district on July 5.
According to police, Changan along with an accomplice killed one Shera, a cab service operator in Punjab. Changal was to be paid Rs 5 lakh for this contract killing by another Punjab-resident Sajan, the chief conspirator in the case but couldn't receive the money as the latter got arrested soon after the incident. Sajan and Shera had a long-standing dispute.
Ajay Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP), STF, told TOI that Changan, a jobless man, was found to be involved in several cases of assault and threatening in Kichha. “After getting a Rs 5 lakh contract, Changal and his accomplice booked Shera's cab and killed him midway,” said Singh.
The SSP added, “They made Shera stop the car at a secluded place. Subsequently, Changal took out his country-made pistol and shot Shera in his head at point blank. He died on the spot and the two men then ran away from the spot. As per the plan, they reached Amritsar railway station where Sajan got them boarded on a train to Uttarakhand. They reached Kichha on July 6.”
Within a couple of days of the murder, Punjab police managed to crack the case and arrested Sajan. Changal, who was on the run, has now been held by Uttarakhand STF. Inspector MB Singh, who led the STF operation to arrest Changal from his home on Friday night, said, “He used to practice shooting near the local Gaula river... He has a criminal record and was infamous in the area for being an anti-social element.”