A day after the murder of 35-year-old mobile shop owner at Baltana, the police investigation indicated that it was a contract killing and robbery was not the motive behind it. Police sources said three persons came on a bike and before shooting Ajay Jain, one of the bike riders asked his name and when Ajay confirmed it, the other shot him. A man who was withdrawing cash from a nearby ATM heard the brief conversation in Hindi between Ajay and the assailants. The way Ajay was shot at point-blank range, it seemed to be the handiwork of a professional killer, police sources said. “The family migrated to Baltana around 10 years ago from Sonipat. A property dispute of the family is going on. We are investigating it too. The family does not have suspicion on anybody,” said a police official investigating the case.
The other angle of the police probe pertains to a dispute about sale of some mobile phones. Ajay sold 25 costly mobile phones to an Amritsar-based dealer, Yashjeet, and the dealer gave him some cheques which later bounced. Ajay also lodged a complaint with the police regarding this incident. SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said that they had some clues and would soon solve the case. They had not rounded up any person yet. SP (Detective) Jaskaran Singh Teja, who is heading the Special Investigation Team, said that it would be too early to say what was the reason for the murder but the property dispute was pending. Ajay’s father Mahavir Jain, however, said that they had been living at Baltana for more than 10 years and had no enmity with anyone. He claimed his son never quarralled with anyone.
“We all were at home when one of our family friends told us that Ajay was shot. At first, I could not understand. When we reached the spot, he was bleeding profusely,” Mahavir said. Mahavir said that both his sons, Ajay and Aadeesh, worked in the same shop. Ajay looked after marketing while Aadeesh dealt with wholesale business of mobiles. They recently bought a showroom near their shop and Aadeesh shifted into it.
Ajay is survived by three daughters aged 10, eight and one month, wife, parents and younger brother. Surinder, the owner of a shop located near Ajay’s mobile shop, said that a few days ago a woman also quarrelled with Ajay after the latter refused to replace her phone. Police obtained CCTV footage from the ATM and from a shop located near the crime scene. The shopkeepers of the area closed their shops on Friday and demanded the arrest of the culprits. Deputy Inspector General of Police B L Meena visited the victim’s family.