Cop’s son shoots at man in south Delhi in alleged case of road rage

Police said the suspect, Nitin Singh, 27, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident shot at Sandeep Bhati because he did not allow Singh to overtake his vehicle. Police have arrested Singh, who is a resident of Kalkaji.

A 27-year-old man, the son of a Delhi police head constable, shot at a 22-year-old man near the Delhi airport on Wednesday in a case of road rage, police said.

Police said the victim, Bhati is currently admitted to the hospital where doctors are treating him. (Representative image)

Police said the suspect, Nitin Singh, 27, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident shot at Sandeep Bhati because he did not allow Singh to overtake his vehicle. Police have arrested Singh, who is a resident of Kalkaji.

Police said around 5am on Wednesday, Bhati and his friends were returning to their village in Noida sector 83 from Bhiwadi in his car. “When Bhati and his friends reached near Delhi airport, they noticed one blue colour Swift car behind them. The head lights of the vehicle were switched off. They sensed trouble and increased their speed. The driver of blue car followed them and when they reached RTR Marg in front of Western Air Command Gate, the driver of the alleged car fired at them. The bullet hit the rear windowpane of their car and then Bhati’s head,” said a police officer quoting the statement of the eyewitness, Ashu Bhati, who was travelling in Bhati’s car.

Ashu called the 112 police control room number at 5.08pm. Before police could reach the spot, Ashu rushed his friend to the Yatharth Super Speciality hospital in sector 110, Noida. Ashu told police they feared the gunman will shoot at them again and chose to rush to the hospital near their house in Noida.

Police said the victim, Bhati is currently admitted to the hospital where doctors are treating him.

A senior Delhi police officer, who asked not to be named, said, “Our team went to Noida and record the statement of the eye witness. Based on his statement, we analysed over 50 CCTV cameras between from the crime spot towards south Delhi. The car was spotted in footage of several CCTV cameras on the Outer Ring Road up to Kalkaji. Our investigation showed that the same car had hit a divider an accident in Kalkaji B block. The boot and the bumper of the vehicle were damaged in the accident. We got the car details and took the registration address. It was traced to a house in police colony, Kalkaji.”

Police said they found the car to be registered in the name of a woman head constable, Archana Singh. Police said she is posted in the south district. “We arrested Archana’s son after learning that he was using the vehicle. We also recovered the car from a service centre in Okhla. Nitin, the suspect had given it for repairs after the accident at Kalkaji B block,” the officer mentioned above said.

Nitin, who was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, told police that he fired the shot because Bhati did not allow him overtake. Nitin also confessed that he was drunk at the time of the incident. Police said Nitin was using an unlicensed pistol.