Meat trader gunned down at busy traffic junction in west Delhi
The officer identified the dead man as Saleem Qureshi, a resident of Nangloi in west Delhi.
A 34-year-old meat trader was gunned down by three motorcycle-borne men at a traffic junction on the busy Rohtak Road in west Delhi on Wednesday evening, police said.
Monika Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner of police (west), said an old rivalry over meat business and subsequent quarrels may be the motive behind the murder.
“We have identified the suspects, but are yet to catch them,” said the DCP.
The officer identified the dead man as Saleem Qureshi, a resident of Nangloi in west Delhi. “He and his brother own meat shops in Nangloi and Madipur,” said the officer.
Qureshi was driving his Swift car on Rohtak Road at 6.30 pm on Wednesday when he was gunned down.
“Qureshi was waiting at a traffic signal when the trio came on a motorcycle and shot him thrice,” the DCP said, adding the assailants were suspected to have followed his car for some distance before striking.
While Qureshi died in his car, the suspects escaped. Since the murder spot wasn’t covered by cameras, the police remained clueless before they found their footage some distance away.
“One of the suspects was identified from the footage. That helped us understand the possible motive behind the murder,” the DCP said.
The officer said the murder had its roots in 2017 when the Qureshi brothers were involved in a dispute with a shop owner.
“That quarrel led to more quarrels in subsequent months. There were attempts to sort out the matter but that ended up aggravating the problem,” the DCP said.
While the shop owner with whom the Qureshi brothers were involved in the 2017 quarrel was not present at the crime spot, the DCP said the identified suspect was someone known to him.
“We are not yet in a position to say if the other shop owner was involved in the murder,” said the DCP.
In a similar incident in June, two men were trailed and gunned down at a busy traffic junction in north-east Delhi’s Nand Nagri.