Jammu, Jun 11: In a major breakthrough into the broad daylight killing of a gangster Sushil Srivastava and his two aides in a 2015 shootout within the premises of Hazaribagh court premises, Jammu and Kashmir Police have apprehended an ex-Army para commando suspected to have carried out the killings for money.
Identified as Avtar Singh, the accused was posted with the 4 Para in 2015 and was discharged from the Army on his own request in 2016, sources in police said. Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district, he was residing in rented accommodation in Jammu’s Sainik Colony.
According to sources, Singh was initially apprehended by a police party from R S Pura Police Station on suspicion of his involvement into a recent incident of looting of a local shopkeeper.
However, while he was found not involved into the robbery incident, during questioning, he confessed his involvement in the killing of Shrivastava and his two aides.
Confirming the arrest, a senior police officer said Singh had been paid by the rival gangster for the killing.
The exact amount that changed hands is yet to be confirmed, said the officer. Sources said Singh was paid by gangster Vikas Tiwari.
The accused has also revealed the name of his associate involved in the killings, saying that he was presently posted in Delhi, sources said.
Both were hired by Tiwari as all earlier attempts by him to kill Srivastava had failed in the past.
Srivastava, who was already convicted in a murder case and lodged in Hazaribagh jail, was gunned down along with two aides within the Hazaribagh court premises, where they had been brought for trial in another criminal case on June 2, 2015.
Over a dozen policemen who were escorting the deceased gangster were suspended after the attack.
A senior police officer said Singh was confessing to have carried out two three more killings in Hazaribagh but added that investigations were in progress.