Namdhari, accused in Ponty shootout, expelled from BJP

Sacked Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, arrested recently in connection with Ponty Chadha murder case, was on Monday expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Namdhari has been expelled from the party following his arrest in connection with the Chattarpur farmhouse shootout in which controversial liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed, state BJP chief Bishan Singh Chufal said.

Even otherwise, Namdhari was not an active member of the party, Chufal said.

Namdhari was a member of the BJP and it was during the party's government in Uttarakhand in 2010 that he was made the chief of the state minorities commission.

Ever since his name surfaced as an eye-witness

in the Ponty Chadha murder case, speculation was on about his possible expulsion from the party. However, state BJP leaders had been evasive on the issue saying that the party's action will depend on the outcome of the ongoing probe into his alleged role in the shootout incident.

Delhi Police has alleged that Namdhari had opened fire at Ponty's brother Hardeep during the shootout at Chattarpur on November 17 in which both the brothers were killed. However, Namdhari had said that he did not fire at Hardeep.

A pistol allegedly used by him during the shootout at Chadha's farmhouse in South Delhi has been recovered by investigators from his residence in Uttarakhand.