Two minors from Rohtak, including a javelin throw athlete, were among the four alleged shooters of the overseas-operated Deepak Nandal gang killed in an encounter in Gurugram late last night.

While the families of the slain shooters claimed they were minors, the Gurugram police said they were verifying documents to ascertain their age.

One of the deceased has been identified by the police as Aryan, a resident of Baland (Baloth) village in Rohtak. Investigators said Aryan was an aspiring javelin thrower and worked as a local bike mechanic before recently being drawn into the criminal syndicate. Another deceased, Nitin, also belonged to the same village and was a friend of Aryan. Both were accompanied by Ankit.

All three belonged to the same village, pointing to a localised recruitment network within the gang. The fourth deceased was identified as Sandeep, alias Deepa, a resident of Fatehabad. A senior police official said the lone surviving shooter, who was undergoing treatment under heavy police security, had been identified as Shivam, a resident of Bissar village in the Nuh (Mewat) region. Meanwhile, following the shootout, the Gurugram police have issued a lookout circular against the gang’s kingpin, Deepak Nandal.

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The fugitive gangster, a former Haryanvi music producer who now allegedly operates his criminal syndicate from abroad, is wanted for orchestrating multiple high-profile extortion rackets across Haryana and the Delhi-NCR region.

Police sources said the Nandal gang had demanded an extortion amount of around Rs 10 crore from a city-based businessman’s family, which came under heavy fire on Thursday night. Investigators said that despite receiving the demand, the family had not lodged any formal complaint due to fear of retaliation by the gang.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is with The Tribune, joint Crime Branch teams laid an ambush near businessman Vishal Berry’s residence in Sushant Lok Phase I following a tip-off. The shooters arrived in a black Scorpio with taped-over registration plates. Three of them got out of the vehicle and allegedly opened indiscriminate fire while another filmed the attack.

When cornered, the suspects allegedly opened fire on the police, injuring Constables Manjeet and Shamsher, and ASI Sunil Kumar. The police retaliated in self-defence, injuring all five suspects and recovering five pistols from the spot. Four of the gang members succumbed to their injuries.