SAIL chief attack was part of coal mafia murder plot, say Delhi Police

NEWDELHI:THE August 7 attack on the chairman of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Anil Kumar Chaudhary, wasn’t a case of road rage as initially suspected but a plot to kill him, Delhi police said on Monday after arresting two men, including a private contractor who allegedly hired contract killers to get even with the executive following a business dispute. The attack on Chaudhary, near the city’s central HUDCO Place, was foiled by a passing police patrol, which arrested two of the four attackers in what seemed to be an incident of road rage. Two more were arrested later. However, on Monday police said that the four were hired by a private contractor from south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area, Ashok Kumar Singh,60, through a property dealer, and were promised ₹6 lakh to kill Chaudhary. ₹2 lakh of this was paid as advance, the police claimed. Deputy commissioner of police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik confirmed the arrest of Singh and the property dealer, Sunil Balara, but refused to share more details about the case. “It will hamper the ongoing probe,” the officer said.

The SAIL executive said he always suspected it was more than road rage. “What happened with me on that day made me suspect that it was not a road rage or robbery attempt but a deeprooted conspiracy. It has now come true. I am surprised that Singh has been granted bail. I am hoping that the police will unravel the entire conspiracy.” A senior police officer, who asked not to be named, said that Singh was miffed with Chaudhary because SAIL cancelled a ₹100 crore coal supply contract with him after it found the quality of the fuel to be poor.