Gurdeep Singh Chadha was one of India's most powerful businessmen, a liquor and real estate baron whose influence was intertwined with his money. Known as Ponty, he was a mysterious figure, described in the media as an "invisible man," even as his political influence protected him.

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But Mr. Chadha, who was in his mid- to late 50s, was killed on Saturday, shot in the chest, reportedly by his younger brother Hardeep, who was also killed, after an argument escalated into a gunfight at a luxury farmhouse outside New Delhi. The Shakespearean overtones were inescapable: the brothers had been fighting over the family business since their father's death last year. They converged at the farmhouse with retinues of armed guards, and soon the bullets flew.