Man admits crime to get mob that beat him booked for assault

I tried to snatch the pistol away from the man to save my brother, but the man (Mahesh) shot at us. The bullet fired by Mahesh went through Paras’ left arm and lodged itself in the abdomen of Durga.

PARAS PRASAD, Deepak Prasad’s brother and an eyewitness

NEW DELHI: A 22-year-old man on Wednesday confessed to having shot and injured two people in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat last month so that he could get a mob, which beat him up after the firing incident, booked for “attempt to commit culpable homicide”.

The man, who was only identified as Mahesh, told police in his statement that he had shot the men, who are brothers, following a quarrel over parking his motorcycle in Anand Parbat on March 29. “I was carrying a pistol for scaring others,” Mahesh, a tailor, said in his statement.

Confirming the developments, MS Randhawa, deputy commissioner of police (central), said cross-firs have been registered in this case. “Mahesh has been booked for attempt to murder and arrested. The people who assaulted him have been booked for attempt to commit culpable homicide,” said Randhawa.

Mahesh has been to jail at least thrice earlier in connection with different crimes. After being released recently, Mahesh, along with some friends he had befriended in jail, went to Anand Parbat to have a drink on March 29. Around 11.30pm, Mahesh allegedly heard someone abuse him for wrongly parking his motorcycle on the road.

“I got angry and pointed my pistol at that man,” Mahesh said.

Police later identified the man who allegedly abused Mahesh as Deepak Prasad, a local resident.

Later, on hearing a commotion outside, Deepak’s brothers, Paras and Durga, immediately rushed to the spot to intervene. “I tried to snatch the pistol away from the man to save my brother, but the man (Mahesh) shot at us,” alleged Paras.

The bullet allegedly fired by Mahesh went through Paras’ left arm and lodged itself in the abdomen of his younger brother Durga.

By then, a mob had gathered who allegedly caught hold of Mahesh and thrashed him.

“The mob attacked me with bricks and stones. They smashed my head to a brick wall repeatedly,” Mahesh said. He alleged that the ‘murderous mob’ included one of the three siblings who had been shot at earlier.

An investigator said that ever since, Mahesh, was determined to get the mob booked for the assault on him. “He was willing to confess to his own crime if that would mean bringing the mob to justice,” said the investigator.