32-yr-old pub owner shoots himself dead ‘accidentally’
POLICE SAY VICTIM WAS NOT PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH FRIENDS; FAMILY ALLEGES FOUL PLAY, DEMANDS A PROBE
NEW DELHI: The co-owner of a pub in northwest Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh “accidentally” shot himself dead while “fiddling” with a pistol inside a club on Wednesday night, police said.
While the family of the victim, identified as Nasir Khan, 32, alleged foul play, police said CCTV footage as well as eyewitnesses confirmed it to be a case of accidental firing.
Police said a blurred CCTV footage of the pub suggests that Khan was fiddling with a pistol before pointing it towards his temple and firing the fatal shot.
Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), however, denied reports that Khan was playing Russian Roulette, the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head.
Wednesday’s incident was the third instance in less than a fortnight in which a person was “accidentally” shot dead in Delhi. In the previous two instances, two people were killed while allegedly posing with guns.
Khan, the co-owner of a private pub in Shalimar Bagh lived with his uncle, Abad Khan, in Wazirpur Industrial Area.
Police said the fatal shot was fired around 11.30pm on Wednesday when there were over a dozen guests at the pub. Khan was with some friends who were partying at the same pub, said the DCP.
“Khan was fiddling with the pistol when he happened to fire the shot. CCTV footage has confirmed it was his own doing. We probed if Khan and his friends were playing Russian Roulette and have ruled out that possibility,” said the DCP.
The officer said that Khan’s friends fled the spot after the firing and a hunt is on to nab them so that they can identify the pistol owner.
“Khan’s family said he did not have an arms license,” said the officer.
Khan’s uncle, meanwhile, alleged that Khan was involved in a monetary dispute with his friends over the recent fortnight. “The confrontations had turned ugly once or twice. The police must consider murder as a possibility behind the death,” said the uncle.
The DCP said a case under Arms Act has been registered and the investigators will also probe how a pistol was smuggled into the mall and then into the pub.