11 people, including two minors, have been detained on charges of murder of Gatru gang leader Sumit Jandiyal in broad daylight. Along with this, the police disclosed the murder and said that the incident was carried out due to rivalry from another gang. Its conspirator is sitting in Malaysia. He has been identified. Efforts are on to extradite him.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Jammu, Joginder Singh said that several rounds of bullets were fired at Sumit Jandial, riding in the SUV near Jewel Chowk on 21 January. The attackers left their car and ran away on a scooter. A police team immediately rushed Jandial to GMC Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The main accused is also among the arrested people.
The SSP said that those arrested include shooter, conspirator, co-accused and people who have given shelter to criminals. The attackers were identified based on human and technical intelligence information as well as CCTV footage analysis. In view of the seriousness of the crime, a special investigation team (SIT) was formed. The SIT caught about 30 suspects.
Along with this, the SIT conducted raids in Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Investigation revealed that Sumit Jandiyal was murdered between him and another gangster Vikas Salathia of Mandi Gharota in Samba. In 2023, the hostility between the two increased further after the murder of Akshay Kumar, a member of the Gatru gang by a gang of Salathia in Ramgarh.
After the murder of Akshay Kumar, there was a firing between the police and the two gangs at GMC Hospital in Kathua. Probationary sub-inspector Deepak Sharma and notorious criminal Vasudev Kumar were killed in this encounter. Vikas Slathia planned to kill Jandial to avenge Vasudev’s murder. Harsh Singh alias Banta was instructed to arrange shooters for murder.
A room was rented in Shastri Nagar area to plan and carry out the murder. Weapons were purchased from outside Jammu and Kashmir. About a week before the incident, an alto car was purchased for 1 lakh 5 thousand rupees, so that Reiki could be done and the plan could be carried out. The police have recovered the car and scooter used in the crime.
The SSP said that the entire conspiracy behind the murder of Sumit Jandiyal has been exposed. So far, 11 people have been arrested. Efforts are on to catch the remaining accused. Apart from this, the police is also investigating the financial transactions related to planning and executing the murder. He said that the Jammu Police is fully committed to ending the crime.