Burger King murder: Gangster who brought shooters to Delhi outlet on bike arrested

A Beretta pistol with eight cartridges and a Bajaj CT motorcycle were recovered from the suspect, a key associate of gangsters Himanshu Bhau and Sahil Ritoli

Ten days after two members of the Himanshu Bhau gang shot dead a rival gangster at a Burger King outlet in Rajouri Garden in west Delhi, the special cell of the Delhi Police on Friday said they arrested a 27-year-old gang member who brought the two suspects to the eatery on a bike and waited for them outside the outlet while they committed the murder.

Bijender Singh alias Golu is a key associate of fugitive gangsters Himanshu Bhau and Sahil Ritoli and from the same village as them, said police. Bhau and Ritoli, the gang leaders, currently live abroad. (Representational image)

A sophisticated Beretta pistol with eight cartridges and a Bajaj CT motorcycle were recovered from the arrested man, identified as Bijender Singh alias Golu, a resident of Ritoli village in Rohtak, Haryana. He is the first suspect arrested in the case while the two shooters, identified as Ashish Lalu and Vikas alias Vicky, are still on the run.

“The special cell identified all three suspects and conducted multiple raids to nab them from their hideouts in Haryana and Rajasthan. On Friday, the northern range team led by inspectors Puran Pant and Ravi Tushir, arrested Bijender after a brief resistance in the Rohini area,” said deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Manoj C.

Key associate of foreign-based gangsters

Bijender is a key associate of fugitive gangsters Himanshu Bhau and Sahil Ritoli and from the same village as them, said police. Bhau and Ritoli, the gang leaders, currently live abroad. Bijender and Bhau are co-accused in a previous murder case registered against them in Haryana. Bijender was also wanted for allegedly attempting to mow down a Delhi Police team in Faridabad, Haryana, with a Mahindra Scorpio car in the last week of April when it attempted to arrest him, police said.

Pre-planned murder

During interrogation, Bijender disclosed that the murder of Aman Joon, 26, in the Burger King outlet at 9.30pm on June 18 was committed in a pre-planned manner at the direction of the gang, DCP Manoj said. On June 18, Sahil Ritolia instructed Bijender to reach Metro pillar number 397 on a bike armed with a loaded pistol, where he met the two other suspects, said police. They reached the restaurant on Bijender’s bike. While the two shooters went inside the first-floor outlet, Bijender remained on the bike outside with a loaded firearm to keep surveillance and as a backup, said police. Joon was engrossed in conversation with a woman at a table when the two suspects sat at an adjacent table. Soon, the two whipped out their firearms and pumped Joon with bullets. Joon jumped across the billing counter, and the assailants followed. They fired 25 rounds from a close range, killing Joon on the spot. Bijender dropped the two suspects outside the nearest Metro station and fled on his bike, police said.

The woman, identified as Anu Dhankar, who allegedly trapped Joon in the eatery until he was shot dead, is also on the run, said police.

A case of murder and firing was registered at the Rajouri Garden police station. Later, a foreign-based criminal gang took responsibility for killing Joon, said additional commissioner of police (special cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah.

Suspect sent to police custody

A Delhi court on Friday handed Bijender’s custody to the Delhi police for seven days for further investigation. Bijender was produced before duty magistrate Bharti Beniwal “with a muffled face” where the Delhi Police’s special cell sought his custody for a week. The police required his custody to take him to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to trace the source of the pistol and live cartridges recovered from him. He was also required for interrogation to unearth the entire conspiracy and nab the other accused.

The court has granted the police custody till July 5 upon considering the arguments and documents produced.

Absconding shooters threaten car showroom

Meanwhile, the shooters, Lalu and Vicky, allegedly resurfaced on Monday when they opened indiscriminate fire at a car showroom in Hisar, Haryana, and left behind a handwritten note demanding ₹5 crore extortion money from the showroom owner, police said.