Conductor gunned down in fight over poaching of bus passengers

NEWDELHI: A private bus conductor was shot dead outside his home in outer Delhi’s Jharoda Kalan on Sunday night, allegedly following a two-year-long quarrel over picking passengers, police said.

Identified only by his first name, 23-year-old Jitender was shot six times by three men on motorcycles around 11.30 pm. He died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Jitender’s family quoted eyewitnesses as saying that one of the killers first hugged the victim on the street before his associate opened fire.

Santosh Kumar Meena, additional DCP (Dwarka), said one of the suspected killers, 38-year-old Sudhir, was arrested within hours of the murder and two pistols recovered from him.

“We know other two suspects and hope to nab them soon,” Meena said.

Jitender and the arrested man lived in Jharoda Kalan village. Jitender was a conductor with a private bus and Sudhir drove a van. “For the last two years, the duo had been quarrelling over picking passengers from a common stand. Both would accuse each other of poaching their passengers,” said Meena.

Their fights would often turn physical, but others would inter- vene and separate them. But Sudhir allegedly held a grudge against Jitender.

On Sunday night, Jitender was taking a walk in the street when the three suspects arrived on a motorcycle and stormed into his house. “On not finding Jitender inside, they fired a few rounds on the wall and window panes before leaving,” said an investigator.

While leaving, they spotted Jitender on the street.

“People who witnessed the shooting said the killers first shook hands with Jitender. One of them then hugged Jitender before his associate began shooting at him,” said Sunita, Jitender’s sister-in-law.