Nand Nagri cop murder was premeditated, finds probe

A police officer investigating the case said the shooter, 44-year-old Mukesh, had been planning to kill the policeman for the past few days and decided to procure arms

The murder of a policeman on a flyover near Nand Nagri on Tuesday morning by his acquaintance was premeditated, as the shooter purchased an illegal firearm, loaded it with 10 bullets and lured the cop on the pretext of paying him ₹25,000 — a monthly instalment against a loan of ₹5 lakh the shooter had taken — police said.

The spot on the Meet Nagar flyover where the cop was shot dead. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

A police officer investigating the case said the shooter, 44-year-old Mukesh, had been planning to kill the policeman for the past few days and decided to procure arms with whatever money he was left with.

“Had the man, identified by his first name Mukesh, actually wanted to pay the instalment, ₹25,000 should have been on his person. If he had paid the money to assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Dinesh Sharma, the same would have been recovered from his person or a bag he was carrying. All that Mukesh possessed was the illicit gun he was carrying when he met Sharma at the Ashok Nagar-Meet Nagar flyover near Nand Nagri around 11.30am on Tuesday,” the officer cited above said.

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tikrey said that police were probing the case to ascertain the reason that triggered Mukesh to go on a shooting spree, killing the policeman and then dying by suicide.

“The monetary dispute has emerged in our probe, but what actually triggered Mukesh to plan the shooting and murder is being looked into. We are also trying to ascertain the source through which Mukesh purchased the illegal firearm and ammunition. The call details of his cellphone are being examined,” Tikrey said.

A second police officer said that Sharma contacted Mukesh’s live-in partner at 11.17am, nearly 20 minutes before Mukesh and Sharma met. “The ASI enquired from the woman where Mukesh was as his cellphone was switched off and he was not able to contact him. She told him that Mukesh had left home saying he was going to meet him and pay him ₹25,000,” the officer said.

“The amount was kept at the home and Mukesh did not take it along. It appears that Sharma somehow contacted Mukesh, who fixed their meeting place near the flyover but reached there with the loaded gun. This suggests that his intention was to kill Sharma and not pay him the money,” the second officer said.

The bodies of the cop and the shooter were handed over to their families after an autopsy on Wednesday. The cop was shot four times in his chest — three bullets were recovered from the body and another had an exit wound — and Mukesh had an entry and exit wound on his head, police said. Ballistic experts said that the magazine of Mukesh’s firearm was empty, suggesting he used the last bullet to shoot himself.

There was a scuffle at Mukesh’s Nand Nagri home, as his live-in partner and wife got into an altercation of who would take possession of the body. Locals intervened and gave it to the wife, police said.

Mukesh and Sharma met around 11.30am on Tuesday, and after riding pillion for around 200 metres on Sharma’s bike, Mukesh got down on the flyover and opened indiscriminate fire, police said. Sharma was hit at least four times, while a commuter, 30-year-old Amit Kumar, suffered an injury to his waist from a stray bullet. Kumar managed to ride to the other end of the flyover before collapsing.

After firing at Sharma, Mukesh sat in an auto-rickshaw on the flyover and pointed the gun at the driver. But the auto slowed on its descent as Kumar collapsed, taking advantage of which the driver escaped. Mukesh fired at him but missed, following which he shot himself in the head in the rear seat of the auto, police said.