Sunil Rathi(41) entered the world of crime merely days after his father, who was then chairman of Tikri Nagar panchayat in Baghpat district, was killed in December 1999. Rathi was 21 years old at the time.
A native of Tikri village in Baghpat’s Baraut town, Sunil’s father Naresh Rathi was killed along with two associates by three people, allegedly including a dismissed Delhi Police official, Ranveer Rathi.
After his father’s death, Sunil’s mother Rajbala Chaudhary contested the panchayat elections in 2000. Her electoral opponent was Mehak Singh, the younger brother of Sompal Rathi, one of the accused in Naresh Rathi’s murder.
Sunil Rathi, allegedly killed gangster Prem Prakash a.k.a Munna Bajrangi and told police that the don’s killing happened in the spur of the moment and was not a premeditated act.
According to the Indian Express, Rathi revealed that Bajrangi had called him ‘chubby’ which infuriated him and he killed the gangster after a heated argument, police sources said.
Rathi said, “I took affront to him calling me fat. I objected to his statement and we got into a heated debate.”
He claimed that it was Bajrangi who initiated the verbal spate and pulled out a pistol whereas Rathi snatched it and pumped all the bullets into the gangster.
However, eyewitnesses refuted Rathi’s statement and claimed that he shot Bajrangi point blank without any provocation and altercation while the don was taking a stroll in the garden outside the isolation cell he was lodged in. Bajrangi could even run to take shelter and Rathi used his own pistol to eliminate the gangster.
Principal Secretary Home, Arvind Kumar said, “There are many versions about the circumstances surrounding the killing. Every aspect will be probed as judicial and magisterial probes are on and the truth will be revealed soon,” he stated.