Robbery attempt, not gang war, led to Usmanpur murder

NEW DELHI: Police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the murder of a 22-year-old man in northeast Delhi’s New Usmanpur and said the deceased Rohit Pal was shot while trying to rob a man.

The police have arrested one Ravi Solanki, 27, for the crime. Ravi, police said, had confessed to have shot Pal.

DCP (northeast) AK Singla said that on Tuesday around 9am, they received information about a man who was found bleeding in in New Usmanpur. The man, later identified as Pal, was bleed- ing from his head and stomach.

DCP Singla said that after police launched a probe, Pal’s friend Harish came forward and claimed he was an eyewitness. Harish then narrated the sequence of events .

Harish reportedly told police that he and Pal were drinking by the roadside when they saw the accused Ravi and a friend passing by. Harish initially claimed that Ravi had fired at Pal without provocation . Police, however, said Harish had lied to them.

On Wednesday, when police arrested Ravi, he revealed that he had shot Pal while he and Harish were trying to rob him. “Ravi told us that he was on a bike with his friend, when he saw Rohit and Harish drinking. They were not friends but knew each other. Pal and Harish stopped Ravi and asked him to join them for drinks. When Ravi refused, Harish caught him from behind and they tried to snatch money out from his pocket,” said DCP Singla. The officer said that during the scuffle, Ravi took out a gun and shot Pal twice.