‘Softspoken’ DJ wielded knife out of panic, regrets
LETHAL BRAWL Police said DJ confessed to crime, said he was ‘attacked’ by guests who had already smashed his laptop
NEWDELHI: One man was dead and two others injured in the fullblown brawl at a west Delhi bar on Sunday night, but at the centre of the murderous quarrel were a “mild-mannered and shy” gym owner and a “soft-spoken” disc jockey, said their families.
By the time the brawl ended, the gym owner was dead and the DJ hiding behind the bar with tears in his eyes and “regret” in his heart.
For the family of DJ Deepak Bisht, he was the softest man they knew. “He would refuse to kill even a mosquito if we asked him to. If anything, he acted in self-defence,” said Bisht’s recently married sister after hugging him at the Punjabi Bagh police station on Monday.
Bisht, 27, was caught from the pub itself in the early hours of Monday. “He was hiding in the pub when we traced him,” said Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west). “He has been crying throughout his interrogation,” the DCP added.
Another investigator said Bisht had thrown his knife away soon after the murder before hiding. “It took us a few hours to trace the murder weapon. Bisht was so shocked by what he had done that he couldn’t remember the sequence of events,” said the investigator.
The officer said that Bisht confessed to killing the guest, but said he acted out of panic on being “attacked” by the guests who had already smashed his laptop. He did not have a criminal background, said police.
A native of Uttarakhand, Bisht lived with his parents in north Delhi’s Sant Nagar. “He loved music since childhood and chose a career that allowed him to remain connected to music forever. He worked at a pub in Gurgaon, but did not like the crowd. So, he took up the job with the bar in Punjabi Bagh in January. He knew the taste of the guests, but it is not possible to always accommodate everyone’s demands,” said Bisht’s uncle, who did not identify himself.
At Raftaar: The High Speed Lounge & Bar where the murder took place, entry was restricted for the media and the owners were not reachable over phone. But a guard deployed there said that guests often turned violent in the last hour of the closing.
“People are heavily drunk at that time, so the bar owners play safe and try to wrap up the music by 11.30 pm,” said the guard, adding the place is open until 12.30 am.
In nearby Vishnu Garden, a family remembered 28-year-old murdered gym owner, Vijaydeep Singh, as a “mild-mannered and shy” man who would go to any extent to see his parents happy.
“When my two sons opened a gym in partnership with a friend last Diwali, they ensured I quit my job as a mechanic. Vijaydeep would say it was his turn to serve us. We had planned to get him married this November,” said Vijaydeep’s father, Harjinder Singh.
Vijaydeep did not like visiting pubs and bars and was compelled to join his colleagues and friends on Sunday evening, said his brother, Vishwajeet Singh.
“If it was someone’s birthday, he would throw open the gym for the celebrations. Sunday was a rare occasion when he was convinced to visit a pub. He was only intervening to stop the brawl,” said the brother.
Vijaydeep’s distraught mother said he would get agitated if she ever cried. “He always touched our feet when leaving for work. He never wanted to see me crying. Today, I am crying and he won’t be there to wipe my tears,” said Lajwant Kaur.