Alleging links between Hardeep and Lovely, which helped the former bag government contracts, BJP’s Delhi unit wrote to the Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, demanding a probe into the shootout. The Delhi government rejected the charges of wrongdoing. In his letter to Kumar, Delhi BJP chief Vijendra Gupta alleged that police were not investigating the case “seriously and thoroughly”.

“Hardeep Singh Chadha had links with local politicians like (former) Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and there was alleged collusion between them in the case of contract for cluster bus service in Delhi,” the letter stated.

According to Gupta, Hardeep’s company, AB Grain Spirits Pvt Ltd, was awarded a contract to operate 150 low-floor buses in South Delhi, but only 16 buses were plying on these routes. “It is said that Hardeep had secured the contract of this cluster service (due to) his relations with the Delhi government,” Gupta said.

Sources said M/s Chadha Papers Limited, another company for which Ponty and Hardeep are listed as directors, secured the contract for another cluster bus service.

A Delhi government in a release on Tuesday said the bus clusters were awarded through an open, transparent and competitive bidding process. “Those who qualified the technical criteria and quoted the lowest were approved,” the release said. Another communique from the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) called the accusations baseless and contrary to facts. “It is on record that as much as Rs 1.08 crore have already been imposed on AB Grain Spirits Pvt Ltd as penalty (performance shortfall deductions),” the statement read.

The BJP president also alleged that Hardeep was involved in the affairs of the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) in Delhi because his father-in-law and former chairman of SGPC, Harinder Singh, is the younger brother of Paramjeet Singh Sarna, president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. “A few days before the murders there was a fight involving fire-arms in Gurdwara Rakabganj. The Delhi Police did not take suitable action as Lovely is minister-in-charge of the SGPC,” Gupta said.

Shootout scene recreated

The Crime Branch and officials from the CFSL reconstructed the shootout scene at 42, Central Drive (Chhattarpur), on Tuesday. The exercise, police said, was meant to ascertain the trajectory of the bullets, whose marks were on the walls of the farmhouse.

Gurdeep Singh Chadha alias Ponty and his brother Hardeep were killed in the shootout on November 17. Sachin Tyagi, the PSO of recently sacked chairman of Uttarakhand Minorities Commission Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, was taken to the crime scene along with Ponty’s driver Raj Dev to reconstruct the shootout scene. Ponty’s Land Cruiser was placed at the spot where it was on the day of the gunfight, Raj Dev got into the driver’s seat and Tyagi was told to sit next to him. Police said the positions were labelled — Ponty was marked as seated behind Tyagi and Namdhari was labelled behind the driver.

Tyagi reportedly told police that Ponty’s manager Narender was near the gate when Hardeep grabbed him by the neck and shot at his leg. He then moved towards Ponty. Police were told that Ponty opened SUV’s door, which hit Hardeep who fell on the ground. Hardeep then pumped bullets into Ponty, most of which hit his upper thigh and stomach, police were told. Tyagi said he and Namdhari took cover near the wheels. He said as he moved towards the front of the car, he saw Namdhari draw his pistol. The four-hour-long reconstruction was videographed.

‘We appointed him minority panel chief, Cong let him continue’

Dehradun: Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said although Sukhdev Singh Namdhari was appointed chairman of the Uttarakhand Minorities Commission during his tenure, there is a common process for making such appointments.

“Sarkar kisi ki nahin hoti (A government does not belong to an individual). There is a common process for making such appointments. He was appointed on the recommendations of the party,” Pokhriyal said over the phone. He said Namdhari was state president of Sikh Sangat, which is a sister organisation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

He said Congress party has ruled the state for over six months. “Why did the Congress allow him to continue (as chief of the minorities commission) after formation of its government?” he asked. Namdhari was appointed as chairman of the state minorities commission in March 2010.

Namdhari’s passport impounded in Jalandhar

Jalandhar: The Jalandhar passport office on Tuesday impounded the passport of Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, an accused in the Ponty Chadha shootout case. The Punjab Police has also come under the scanner for clearing his application in 2006, when he was a resident of Bazpur, Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand.

Passport officer Parneet Singh said Namdhari’s application was recommended by then SHO of Lohian police station Jarnail Singh after verification. Namdhari’s police verification report said he was a resident of Jania village in Punjab.