Ponty Chadha, brother shot dead in family feud

Agencies/New Delhi

A powerful liquor baron and his brother died in a shootout yesterday on the outskirts of New Delhi, police said, as a feud over family property turned fatal.

Ponty Chadha, dubbed the “Baron of Booze” by the media, and his younger brother, Harvinder, were discussing how to divide the family’s assets a year after the death of their tycoon father when the shooting took place, a family lawyer said.

“The two brothers are dead and we are looking into the circumstances,” a police official said.

The exact circumstances of the shooting at the luxury family farmhouse were unclear, but police said Harvinder shot Ponty first, leading to an exchange of fire in which Ponty’s guard was injured and Ponty and Harvinder both died.

“There was a lot of ill-will between the two brothers,” family lawyer Gaurang Kanth told CNN-IBN television network. “It is a shock for everybody - nobody expected it to escalate to this level.”

Ponty, who was in his mid-50s, had estimated the value of his liquor business alone at Rs60bn ($1.1bn). His other interests stretched from real estate to malls, sugar mills and film production.

“There were a lot of problems regarding the property settlement” after the 2011 death of their father Kulwant Singh Chadha, who founded the Chadha Group business, said Kanth, adding Ponty had wanted to retain control of the family empire.

The whereabouts of the third brother, Rajinder, were not immediately known.

“Hardvinder called on his brother Ponty at around 11.30am today to discuss about a real estate deal. The two had an argument, which turned into an altercation, following which the firing took place resulting in the death of both,” a senior police official said.

“Gurpreet Singh Chadha alias Ponty Chadha and Hardvinder Chadha were brought dead to Fortis Hospital in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and later both the bodies were taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for postmortem examination,” a police official said.

Ponty, whose formal name was Gurdeep Singh Chadha, ruled the liquor business in Uttar Pradesh after being given the sole distribution licence. He also had big liquor interests in other northern states.

A steady stream of friends and relatives flocked to the high-fenced property where the shooting took place as police swarmed the residence.

Television footage showed empty cartridges on the ground outside.

Chadha used to sell snacks with his father in front of a liquor shop as a boy.

He was known to be close to both Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and the Samajwadi Party, which is now ruling Uttar Pradesh.