Why state security for Ponty Chadha, brother? Delhi Police to ask Home Ministry, say sources

Mr Chadha, 55, was given five Personal Security Officers (PSOs) and his brother, Hardeep, three PSOs by the Punjab Police. Top Delhi Police sources say that they will also seek an explanation from the Punjab police on the matter.

Hardeep had allegedly opened fire at the farmhouse with bullets first hitting Ponty's guard Narender and then Ponty himself. Then the guards from both sides opened fire. Officials had said the PSOs given to the brothers by the Punjab Police were not involved in the firing.

The Delhi Police says they have identified the possible motive behind the shootout. The two brothers were at loggerheads over their properties for months. Due to intervention by family elders, matters between the two brothers were kept under control for months.

However, on Saturday, Mr Chadha's men tried to evict his younger brother's people not only from their farmhouse in Chhattarpur, where the shootout happened, but also from another farm in Kapashera. Police claims Hardeep lost his temper because of this.

But a man close to the family has rejected this theory. Paramjeet Singh Sarna, who is the brother of Hardeep's father-in-law has told NDTV that there was no property dispute between the brothers. He claims he mediated between the two earlier and had resolved all outstanding property disputes between them.

The Delhi Police have questioned nearly 100 people, and three men have been arrested so far. NDTV has learnt that 11 teams of the south Delhi police are working on the case.

According to the police, Mr Chadha visited the farmhouse at around 10.30 am on Saturday with his friend Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who heads the Uttarakhand Minorities Commission. Mr Chadha allegedly asked his men to dab black paint over the farmhouse board carrying Hardeep's name. An enraged Hardeep, investigators said, got a wind of this and rushed to the farmhouse from Noida around noon.

Police said Hardeep first ran into Mr Chadha's aide Narender at the farmhouse gates and shot him. He then fired several shots at Mr Chadha and his SUV, using his licenced 9-mm pistol. Mr Namdhari told the police that Hardeep then turned the gun on him and fired twice, following which his personal security officer Sachin Tyagi from the Uttarakhand police opened fire in retaliation.

The police have registered a murder and attempt to murder case. Another case of trespassing and kidnapping has been registered on the complaint of Hardeep's aide Nandlal, who told the police that Mr Chadha, after arriving at the farmhouse, confined him and some other employees to a room. The police has registered another case of trespassing and intimidation against Mr Chadha's men at the Kapasehra farmhouse.

The three Chadha brothers - Ponty, Hardeep and Rajinder - were jointly managing the estimated Rs. 6,000-crore Wave Inc, formerly the Chadha Group, which has diverse business interests in fields ranging from distilleries, multiplexes, sugar to paper mills. Mr Chadha was thought to have been close to several prominent politicians. He hit the headlines in February this year when income tax officials conducted searches at his premises in Delhi, Noida, Moradabad and Lucknow.