Four members of family injured in attacks in Badarpur

The four injured people, including two brothers and their aunt, are admitted to AIIMS trauma centre where they are undergoing treatment for sharp or blunt injuries

Four members of a family were injured in two separate attacks in less than 24 hours allegedly by a group of swords and knife-wielding men who allegedly pelted glass and stones at the victims in southeast Delhi’s Badarpur, police said on Monday.

The incident was reported from Gautampuri area in south-east Delhi’s Badarpur. (HT photo)

The four injured people, including two brothers and their aunt, are admitted to AIIMS trauma centre where they are undergoing treatment for sharp or blunt injuries, said Rajesh Deo, deputy commissioner of police (south-east), adding that they are expected to survive.

Police have lodged against the suspects in this connection. “We have registered a case of rioting and assault and have identified many suspects. A hunt for the suspects is on and all persons involved in the violence will be arrested,” said Deo.

The man whose family was allegedly at the receiving end of the violence is 47-year-old Ranjit Singh, who is a scrap dealer and lives in Gautampuri neighbourhood of Badarpur. On Sunday evening, his 14-year-old niece went missing, prompting the family to launch a search before getting a missing complaint registered at Badarpur police station, said the officer.

As Singh and his family continued their search, two motorcycle-borne young men from their neighbourhood allegedly hurled “unwanted remarks” about their search at around 10.30pm on Sunday, the DCP said. This snowballed into a fight in which Singh’s nephews, Rahul and Ritik, were injured. “The motorcycle riders had arrived with 20-25 goons armed with sharp weapons and sticks. They attacked my family 10.30pm until 2am when we approached the local police,” alleged Singh’s son, Satish.

On Monday morning, the family assembled outside Singh’s scrap shop at around 8.30am when two other motorcycle riders – allegedly belonging to the same group that was involved in the previous night’s assault – zoomed past the family that was discussing the 14-year-old’s disappearance.

“This time, the handle of the motorcycle brushed against Singh’s son, Bablu. That again triggered another fight in which the motorcycle riders called their friends who pelted broken glass and stones at Singh’s house. Singh’s two sisters were injured in the attack,” the DCP said.

Satish alleged a larger number of men arrived than the night before, who were armed with knives and swords. “They even fired gunshots in the air. One of my aunts received a sword injury in the attack,” Satish alleged.

A video shot of the alleged attack showed some 15-20 men in the street, some of them pelting stones even as a sound resembling a gunshot was heard in the background. The police’s account, however, did not mention gunshots. The two injured women, Shamkali and Urmila, had to be admitted at AIIMS trauma centre with injuries.

The DCP identified some of the suspects as Diggi, Raja, Deepu, Harshu, Pepsu and Kalu. He said that while some of the suspects have a criminal past, their involvement in the missing girl’s disappearance too was being probed.

The girl remained untraced as of Monday evening.