34-yr-old shot dead over ‘road rage’ in Geeta Colony, 2nd incident in 24 hours
TRIGGER An argument broke out after assailant’s scooter touched victim’s car
NEWDELHI: A 34-year-old businessman was shot dead allegedly by a man in Geeta Colony on Monday night following an altercation that started after a scooter grazed the victim’s car, police said. This was the second murder in 24 hours in east Delhi that appeared to be triggered by road rage.
The family of businessman Sushil Chauhan, however, questioned the police theory.
The murder took place around 11.30pm under the Geeta Colony flyover near Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, barely 20 metres from a police booth.
Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Meghna Yadav said Chauhan, a resident of Usmanpur who ran a clothing unit in Yamuna Vihar, was driving his Wagonr car back home after having dinner with his cousin, Ashwani alias Annu, and four friends — Kartik and three women – at a restaurant in Krishna Nagar.
“Chauhan was taking a right turn under the Geeta Colony flyover when a scooter came from Laxmi Nagar side and grazed the car. Chauhan came out his car and yelled at the man. The scooterist partially removed his helmet and started arguing,” said Yadav. The man on the scooter then pulled out a gun and fired two bullets, the DCP said. One bullet hit Chauhan’s left thigh and the second deflated the front right tyre of his car. The other five occupants of the car were unhurt. “The assailant fled after the shooting. He is yet to be identified,” DCP Yadav said.
Bleeding profusely, Chauhan drove the car with a deflated tyre in a bid to reach Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, police said. However, after driving around a kilometre, Chauhan fainted due to excessive bleeding. The others then put Chauhan on the rear seat and Ashwani drove the car to the hospital, said police.
“As the car could not be driven properly due to the deflated tyre, Chauhan was shifted to an auto near Raj Ghat. Chauhan was declared brought dead,” said a police officer, associated with the case.
DCP Yadav said that a case of murder was registered at the Geeta Colony police station on Ashwani’s complaint. “Prima facie, we think Chauhan was murdered in a case of road rage. We scanned CCTV cameras of the route that the assailant took. A scooter has been spotted in the footage. But we are not sure if it is the same one,” she added.
Around 12.30am on Monday, 21-year-old Yogesh Kumar was shot dead allegedly by two carborne assailants following an altercation that started after the door of a car scraped him at Acharya Niketan market near Mayur Vihar Phase-1. Police are yet to identify the attackers.
Chauhan’s wife Seema, how- ever, said she suspected the role of one of the passengers in her husband’s car. She said the passenger, a woman, had hired a “contract killer”.
“The woman used called him to meet her at night on one pretext or the other. On November 29, I had told her not to call my husband to nightclubs. My husband had started coming home late and had started lying about the delays,” said Seema.
Chauhan’s brother Mukesh said his brother had gone to attend their friend’s wedding. Around 10pm, Chauhan called Seema and told her he was returning home. However, they went to Kamla Nagar and had alcohol with the women, said Mukesh. “At 11.21 pm, Seema spoke to him again and he claimed he was caught by police for driving under the influence. After that his phone was switched off,” Mukesh said. The family questioned statements of the car’s occupants. “A hospital is right behind the crime spot. Why did they not admit my brother there and instead of driving to a hospital 5-6 km away,” said Chauhan’s cousin, Manoj.