Ghaziabad: Hitmen shoot man, hold his wife, sister hostage

Just two hours later, another man was shot in the same village, leading the police to suspect that the same gang was involved in both attacks

A gang of three to four masked gunmen shot and injured a 33-year-old man while holding his wife and sister at gunpoint late Wednesday night in Amrala village, near Modinagar. Just two hours later, another man was shot in the same village, leading the police to suspect that the same gang was involved in both attacks.

Rajnish Sharma (HT Photo)

The first attack took place around 9.30pm when Rajnish Sharma, a manager at a steel company, was out for a walk with his wife, Rachna Sharma, 31, and sister, Kavita Sharma, 28, about 500 metres from their home.

“Suddenly, three to four men came up from behind and shone their mobile lights on us. When my brother questioned them, they opened fire without warning, hitting him in the right shoulder,” Kavita said.

Panicked, the women pleaded for their lives and offered their valuables, but the assailants had other plans. They took photos of the family and sent them to someone via mobile phone.

“They told us that they had a ”supari (contract)” of ₹25 lakh to kill us, and a man named ”Vikram” had ordered the hit. We pleaded with them that we were probably not the persons they were searching for,” Kavita said.

The attackers then physically assaulted the women, slapping them and striking their heads with weapons. They forced the three into a nearby sugarcane field, ordering them to lie down.

“In the fields, they kept threatening to shoot my injured husband. We begged them to let us go. After a long time, they finally agreed but warned us not to report the incident. They told us to tell people we had been attacked by a ‘Nilgai’ (blue bull). They also said they had informants in the village and would return in three days to kill us if we revealed the truth,” Rachna Sharma said.

Once the attackers fled, the family rushed Rajnish to a hospital in Ghaziabad and alerted the police.

Around 11.30pm, just two hours after the first incident, several unidentified men shot and injured another man in the same locality after knocking on his door.

“My nephew Ajit Kumar, 30, did not open the main door; he peeped through a small opening in the door and saw three men outside. One of them immediately opened fire through the window and the bullet hit Ajit in the neck,” Sudhir Kumar, Ajit’s uncle, said.

Despite his injury, Ajit managed to shut the window as the attacker reloaded his weapon. Before they could fire again, neighbours raised the alarm, forcing the suspects to flee.

Ajit was also rushed to a hospital in Ghaziabad, where he remains in the ICU alongside Rajnish Sharma.

The police said they registered two FIRs in connection with the two incidents at Bhojpur police station.

The first FIR involving Rajnish Sharma was filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 109 (attempt to murder). 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation).

The second FIR involving Ajit Kumar was filed under BNS section 109 (attempt to murder).

“The two attacks occurred within a two-hour span, and we suspect that the same gang is responsible. Our teams are working to identify and track down the suspects,” said Surendra Nath Tiwary, deputy commissioner of police (rural zone).

Gyan Prakash Rai, assistant commissioner of police (Modinagar), added that on the same night, police also received a report of an attempted burglary at an unoccupied house in the village and they are ascertaining whether this incident too linked to the first two attacks.

Investigators are looking into whether these incidents were targeted attacks or cases of mistaken identity, police said.