Chandel murder: hunt on to arrest prime suspect Ashu

Ghaziabad/Noida: In connection with the murder of Gaur City resident Gaurav Chandel, the police are on the trail of prime suspect Ashu Jaat. The police he was facing a financial crunch and most of his family members, including his wife, are in jail charged with different crimes.

Ashu Jaat is believed to the head of a dreaded gang of robbers who mostly resort to carjacking and robbery. “He is apt at changing his appearance. The last time he stepped out of jail was about six months ago from Dasna. Thereafter, we have no clue about his appearance. Last October, members of his gang had shot and injured a toy shop owner in Avantika, Ghaziabad. Several days prior to that, there was another shooting in which Ashu had come to Ghaziabad,” a police officer from Ghaziabad police said.

Another source said before his accomplice Umesh and his wife were arrested by Hapur police, Ashu was hiding in Delhi and kept changing his locations.

“Ashu has gone into hiding after Chandel’s murder. We have not come across any crime which he may have committed thereafter. Since all his family members are in jail, the man is all alone and difficult to track. However, fearing a police encounter, he may also surrender before court,” said an officer.

“Police teams from Noida, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut and Bulandshahr are trying to trace him,” he added.

According to police, both Ashu and Umesh along with Ashu’s wife were in Noida when incident with Chandel took place on the night of January 6 near Gaur City. Umesh and Ashu’s wife Poonam were arrested by the Hapur police on Sunday.

The Noida police said that they questioned Umesh after his arrest. “If the need arises, he would be taken on police remand. Meanwhile, he confessed to the whole incident and our teams are now working to trace Ashu,” Noida’s additional DCP Ranvijay Singh said.