Shalimar Bagh murder: A week on, shooters at large, main suspect still at large

Delhi Police are yet to identify the killers of AAP worker Rachna Yadav, shot dead a week ago, despite extensive investigations and raids for suspects

Even a week after 44-year-old Rachna Yadav, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker and residents’ welfare association (RWA) member in Shalimar Bagh, was shot dead near her residence, Delhi Police are yet to make a breakthrough in the case.

Representative photo

Ten police teams have so far scanned footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras and used advanced technical tools, including the facial recognition system (FRS), to identify the two motorcycle-borne killers, who remain at large.

Senior police officers said that apart from trying to identify the shooters — suspected to be contract killers hired from Punjab or Haryana — investigators were also conducting raids to arrest Bharat Yadav, the prime suspect in the murder of Rachna’s husband, Vijender Yadav, who was shot dead in Bhalswa village in 2023, allegedly over a property dispute.

“Bharat is also our prime suspect in Rachna Yadav’s murder in view of the fact that she was the main witness in her husband’s case and had been receiving threats for not withdrawing it. His arrest and interrogation may help us unearth the entire conspiracy and identify her killers,” said a senior police officer aware of both cases.

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Bhisham Singh said police teams were conducting raids in Delhi and the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab to arrest Bharat.

Police said Yadav was shot around 11 am on January 10 when she stepped out of her Shalimar Bagh house. SHe had walked only a few steps before being intercepted by men on a motorcycle. Eyewitnesses reported a brief scuffle, after which one assailant pulled out a pistol and shot her from close range. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

Senior police officers suspect that the main shooter, who had not covered his face and was captured on CCTV cameras, was either a first-timer or a criminal from Punjab or Haryana whose criminal dossier had not been prepared as he had never been arrested earlier.

The attackers arrived in Shalimar Bagh on separate motorcycles on Saturday (January 10) morning. While the motorcycle used by the shooter remains untraced, the second vehicle, used for escape, was later found abandoned on Helipad Road in Rohini near Urban Extension Road-2, which connects Delhi to Haryana.