4 shot at in Delhi’s Jafrabad, incident recorded on CCTV

One of the men injured in the firing is the person on whose direction guns were fired near the house of a Mandoli jail head warden two months ago, police said.

Four men, including three from the Chhenu Pehalwan’s gang, were injured after unidentified people opened fire on them in a narrow lane in northeast Delhi’s Jafarabad on Monday night, police officers aware of the case said.

The spot where the four men were shot t in Jafarabad in New Delhi. (HT Photo)

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Police said the entire incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed in the lane, and said the assailants fired at least seven bullets. One of the men injured in the firing is the person on whose direction guns were fired near the house of a Mandoli jail head warden two months ago, the police said.

Additional deputy police commissioner (northeast) Sandhya Swamy said police were informed about the firing at around 9pm, and a team from the Jafrabad police station rushed there. The injured men, identified as Sameer Khopad, 20, Abdul Hasan, 18, Arbaz, 25, and Hamza, 20, had been taken to hospital by then, Swamy said, adding that seven empty bullet shells were found at the scene of the crime.

A video clip of the incident surfaced on social media, in which three men walk past four men talking to each other in the lane. The three then suddenly pull out firearms and start shooting at the four men – three escape, while the fourth runs into a row in the lane.

“Khopad, Arbaaz, and Hamza have previous criminal involvements. Multiple teams have been formed to nab the culprits, who were captured walking in a lane on CCTV cameras. We are scanning the video footage to identify them. A case has been registered,” said Swamy.

Police officers said Arbaz is an active member of the Chhenu gang and was involved in multiple crimes, including murder, attempt to murder and attack on police personnel. Around two years ago, he was arrested and sent to jail for the murder of his rival. At that time, the family members of the deceased had announced that they will take revenge.

A senior officer aware of the case said, “As of now, we are working on two theories. First, that the attack was executed by members of the Nasir gang. We have learnt that recently, differences arose between the two gangs. The second theory is revenge by the family members of the man killed by Arbaz. The attackers could have been hired by the family.”

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Arbaz was in jail number 11 at Mandoli prison when on April 3, he Arbaz and another inmate were beaten by jail head warden Swaraj Singh over some issue. Consequently, Arbaz plotted revenge and planned an attack on Swaraj Singh’s house in Kabir Nagar in northeast Delhi. On April 8, five people opened fire outside a house in Kabir Nagar, the same lane in which Singh lived. However, instead of firing in front of the head warden’s house, the shooters ended up firing outside another house.