30-year-old man shot in bar in Greater Kailash, injured

The shooting took place in Rich Bratz 17 on Sunday at around 3.30am which is over two hours past the mandatory closing time of bars and pubs.

A 30-year-old man was shot at on the dance floor of Rich Bratz 17, a lounge and bar in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash-I, in the early hours of Sunday.

Police have sought cancellation of the lounge’s licence and are investigating how an armed person was allowed in. (Sourced)

Police said that the shooting took place at around 3.30am which is over two hours past the mandatory closing time of bars and pubs.

Police have sought cancellation of the lounge’s licence and are investigating how an armed person was allowed in, deputy commissioner of police (south) Romil Baaniya said.

The DCP, however, did not answer to why the lounge was allowed to remain open beyond the 1am closing time.

The victim, Vinay Bhati, is a resident of Jasola in southeast Delhi and works as a time keeper with a private firm in Noida. On Saturday night, he had gone to the lounge in Greater Kailash-I with his brother and two friends when the alleged accused Umesh, 27, fired at him.

Umesh, too, lives in southeast Delhi’s Govindpuri and hails from Rajasthan, and is unemployed. He was accompanied by his friend Bhanu to the lounge, police said.

Ajay, Bhati’s brother, told Hindustan Times that there was no altercation or provocation before Umesh open fired at Bhati. “I spoke to my brother at the hospital who told me that the man first pushed him and when he got up, the man shot him in the neck,” said Ajay.

Bhati said the same in his statement to the police as well, said Baaniya. The DCP added that after Umesh shot Bhati, people in the lounge got hold of Umesh and thrashed him. The bullet hit Bhati’s collarbone. He was taken to AIIMS trauma centre and is out of danger, said police, who also got Umesh admitted to a hospital.

Bittu and Vinay Kumar, Bhati’s friends who were with him at the time of the incident, said because of darkness they could not see anything but heard the gunshot.

The bullet brushed past Bittu but he was he was not injured because of several layers of clothing, said Bittu. “Bhati told me he was shot but I initially felt he was joking as he was standing erect. Then I noticed that he was bleeding from the neck and that the bullet had touched me too. We took him to the hospital immediately,” Bittu added.

While police said Bhati was also drunk at the time of the incident, his brothers and friends denied the allegations.

“We have registered a case of attempt to murder and if at all any negligence is brought to our notice during the inquiry, action would be taken,” Baaniya added.

On Sunday morning, the DCP told reporters over WhatsApp that the shooting was over a parking issue near the lounge. The officer said the incident took place at around 2am but retracted it later after it was pointed out to him that Bhati had posted a Facebook Live video from inside the lounge at around 3am.

DCP Baaniya said he had shared the message sent by junior officers and the statement was based on initial inquiry.

Police said they would have more clarity once Umesh was fit to give a statement.