Two held for shooting at man outside Ghaziabad dhaba

Ghaziabad: Police arrested two persons in connection with the firing at a 35-year-old man outside Swagat Dhaba in Modinagar on April 2. Rahul Chaudhary, who is out on bail in an extortion case, sustained five bullet injuries but managed to drive himself to a hospital 25km away. He continues to remain critical. A complaint lodged by his wife had claimed a local gang, which had earlier tried to kill Rahul, was behind the attack. The two accused were arrested after a gunfight with cops.The accused were identified as Jalbeer alias Jalu (50) a resident of Bhojpur in Ghaziabad, and Jatin Sharma (35) a resident of Anand Vihar in New Delhi. Jalu, the prime accused, was carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 in the case and was injured in the gunfight.ACP (Modinagar) Bhaskar Verma said that cops received a tip-off that the prime accused in the Rahul Chaudhary shooting was headed to Modinagar in a grey Alto car along with his associate.Teams from SWAT, crime branch and Modinagar police station began conducting checks near Chakroad ahead of Gadana village on the road going from Modinagar to Bhojpur. During these checks, police spotted a grey Alto car without a number plate approaching and tried to stop it. The accused turned the car around and attempted to flee, but their vehicle collided with an electric pole. They then tried to escape on foot.As cops began pursuit, the accused opened fire and Jalbeer sustained a gunshot wound to the leg during retaliatory firing. Jalbeer was sent to a hospital for treatment, while Sharma was arrested from the spot.During interrogation, Jalbeer told cops that he used to work with Chaudhary six years ago, but the two had a falling-out and formed separate gangs. Their enmity grew over the years and Jalbeer had attacked Chaudhary in 2024, but he survived.“Jalbeer planned another attack, but Chaudhary was arrested by police in an extortion case and sent to jail. Later, he managed to win over some of Chaudhary’s people, and when he learned that Chaudhary was going to Modinagar, he followed him and opened fire,” ACP said.A total of 12 cases under extortion, attempt to murder and Arms Act have been registered against Jalbeer in different police stations in Delhi and Ghaziabad.Chaudhary has been named in 18 cases on charges including murder, attempt to murder and extortion at multiple police stations across Ghaziabad. He was acquitted in seven of the cases, but was arrested six months ago in an extortion case and was released on bail two months before the attack.