by Faiqa Masoodi
SRINAGAR: On Saturday, March 9, the Mohali Police revealed that the broad daylight murder of frontline Jammu gangster, Rajesh Dogra, 41, was the outcome of the gang wars between the slain-led Billu Gang and Bakra Gang. Dogra, known as Mohan Cheer was killed in front of a mall in Mohali on March 4.
Mohali Police have arrested five shooters who are believed to have been involved in the murder. These include Bakra gang leader Anil Singh, alias Billa of Samba, an erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Police official who was dismissed from the police force.
The other four include Sham Lal of Udhampur, also a cop but having his services suspended; Harpreet Singh, alias Preet, of Meerut (UP); Satveer Singh, of Pilibhit (UP), and Sandeep Singh, alias Soni, of Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab). Police are hunting for other shooters including Rimpy and Sandeep, alias Raja, both from Jammu; and Manjit Singh, a native of Jind, who resides in Zirakpur, who are still on the run.
Within four hours after the murder, the police recovered all the luxury vehicles that were involved in the planning and execution of the murder.
The preliminary investigations suggest that Dogra was on his way to pay respects at Ayodhya and was accompanied by Sandeep Singh Raja. The suspicion is that Raja, his erstwhile aide, had switched sides and informed the shooters which led to the murder.
“The deceased, along with his two aides, had checked in a Kharar hotel on his way to Ayodhya. Rajan, before meeting Dogra on March 4 afternoon, made him stay put for two days, giving the assailants the time to reach here and execute the murder,” the police officer who briefed the media in Mohala was quoted as saying.
“After the killing, Rajan fled along with the assailants and is still on the run. The assailants immediately abandoned their three vehicles in the Mohali area and fled to Shahgarh in Pilibhit, from where they were nabbed.”
Police said Sandeep had taken Rs 35 lakh for offering details of Dogra to his rivals.
Old Rivalries
Billu and Bakra gangs operate from Jammu and have been responsible for a chain of crimes including murders, extortions and even kidnappings. They have been at war with each other for years. Arrested Anil Singh, police said has as many as 15 FIRs registered against him including eight for murder.
Even though police are still busy investigating the crime, reports appearing in the media suggest the Bakra gang has raised and invested nearly one crore rupees for the planning and execution of the rival Dogra’s murder.
The Rival History
The gang wars between the two main gangs of Jammu have been there for a long time but the recent murder, police believe, was the result of the 2006 murder when Billu gang killed the kingpin of Bakra ganga.
On November 25, 2006, unknown assailants shot dead Finance Company owner Sanjay Kumar Gupta alias Bakra in the posh Trikuta Nagar locality. As Bakra entered the clinic, two unidentified assailants, apparently while coming out of the clinic, opened fire from a pistol from a close range and killed him.
Bakra was a resident of Jain Bazaar (Jammu) and would run Mahajan Finance Company at Residency Road. He was involved in various cases of stabbings and murder and attempts to murder. Police investigations suggest that slain Bakra were rivals of a gang run by Sikander Arora alias Billoo who was murdered inside the District Jail, Jammu in 1997.
The Bakra assassination plan, as the police revealed later, was the outcome of using a girl, a resident of Talib Tillo, who briefed the gangster for 15 days and eventually invited him to the clinic, where was assassinated.
The Slain
Mohan Cheer, as the slain don was known, was a resident of Reasi, and ran a tea stall outside the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department office in Jammu. Besides, he was allegedly indulging in pilfering ration and kerosene. He topped the Jammu notoriety chart after he killed Sanjay Kumar, the head of the Bakra gang in 2006.
Dogra was jailed for the murder and moved out after XX years. His family said he survived an assassination bid in 2015 as well. This time, however, his brother Rakesh has alleged his slain brother’s business partner Rajeev Sharma, alias Bunty, may have compromised him. He accompanied the deceased right from Jammu. Bunty was arrested by the police while trying to flee after the shooters killed his partner. Rakesh has also denied rumours that his brother was killed for his affair with his friend’s wife.
Mohan Cheer was arrested by police within days after he murdered the Bakra gang founder in 2006 from Delhi.
Principal Sessions Judge Jammu convicted the trio for the murder and on November 30, 2017, they were awarded life imprisonment. They went to appeal to the superior court. On May 22, 2018, a division bench of the High Court granted bail to three accused in the Bakra murder case, after serving almost 11 years in jail. The last report suggested that the High Court had quashed Dogra alias Mohan Cheer’s detention order under the Public Safety Act on September 30, 2023.
After coming out of jail and after turning religious, as his brother told reporters, the old rivalry took Dogra’s life in Mohali. Within four days, his rival and killer were nabbed. Since one gang founder is killed and another is behind bars, does it mean Jammu is free from gangs?
