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Three arrested for firing at RPI leader’s farmhouse in Delhi
New Delhi: Seventeen days after an unidentified man shot at a 50-year-old security guard deployed at the farmhouse of a leader of the Republican Party of India (RPI)
New Delhi: Seventeen days after an unidentified man shot at a 50-year-old security guard deployed at the farmhouse of a leader of the Republican Party of India (RPI) in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar, the police on Wednesday said they have arrested three men including the husband of a local politician and were probing the “conspiracy” behind the incident.
The arrested persons have been identified as Varun Kumar, husband of a local politician, Nadeem Siddiqui, and Vijay alias Lala. The man who shot at the guard, however, is still at large and senior police officers said that raids were on to nab him, senior police officers privy to the case said.
On May 31, the guard, Hari Nath, was present at the main gate of the farmhouse of the Republican Party of India’s leader, Mohammad Shakeel Saifi, when a man arrived and asked about Saifi’s whereabouts. When the guard asked the suspect to contact his employer on his mobile phone, the suspect fired two rounds at him. Nath suffered bullet injuries on his legs and the attacker fled. A case was registered and the investigation was taken up by the Nihal Vihar police.
Another police officer, who is aware of the developments in the case, said that after the firing incident police security cover was provided to Saifi, who had been seeking for it for the past few months.
Multiple calls and text messages sent to Safi on his two cellphone numbers by HT got no response.
Saifi—the national president of the minority cell of RPI— was at his farmhouse with his family when the firing took place around 9 am. RPI is led by Ramdas Athawale, the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment.
During the probe, the officer said, the investigating team identified and nabbed the three men, who were in touch with the attacker. “The motorcycle used by the attacker in the crime was provided to him by Siddiqui. The CCTV cameras were also tampered with before the crime and it all led us to probe a conspiracy angle,” said the officer.
Deputy commissioner of police (outer) A Koan refused to share details regarding the arrests and developments in the case by saying, “We are yet to complete the probe.”
