Delhi school murder: Killers missed thrice before shooting principal dead

Anita, the 45-year-old principal of Rachna Public School in Ghumanhera village in outer Delhi’s Chhawla, was shot dead in the school premises at 10pm on Monday by two men following a dispute over six bighas of land.

With a property dispute ending in a gunshot to her chest, school principal Anita Yadav stood still for three to four seconds even as her horrified husband and 17-year-old son Tushar looked on. But Tushar noticed his mother muttering something.

Rachna Public School in Ghumanhera where the principal, Anita Yadav, was shot dead on Monday night. The police suspect that she was killed over a property deal. (Shiv Sunny/HT Photo)

“My mother was trying to tell me something in her last moments. I immediately leaned forward and strained my ears to catch her words, but she collapsed before I could hear her out. I will never know what her last words were,” said Tushar, a Class 11 student who appeared dazed on Tuesday afternoon.

Tushar said he turned desperate on seeing his mother bleed from her chest. “I tried to plug the hole with my hands, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop. She died in my lap moments later,” said Tushar.

Anita, the 45-year-old principal of Rachna Public School in Ghumanhera village in outer Delhi’s Chhawla, was shot dead in the school premises at 10pm on Monday by two men following a dispute over six bighas of land. On Tuesday morning, it emerged that her younger brother, Jai Kishan, too was found dead in nearby Jhajjar district in Haryana.

Rachna Public School has been in operation for the past 23 years. Villagers said Anita, a PhD, was among the first teachers at the school. She had later gone on to marry Ashok Yadav, who inherited the school from his parents.

Tushar said before his mother was shot, he and his father had a narrow escape. “The man wielding the pistol began by firing at my father whom they had held hostage. When they missed him, they fired at me, but I too escaped unhurt,” said Tushar.

It was at that moment that their pet Dalmatian dog jumped on the gunman. “They shot at the dog too, but he too survived. Then, one of the men held my mother by her neck while the other shot her in her chest,” said Tushar.

Tushar said it appeared the pistol jammed after that fatal shot, forcing the killers to flee. His father, however, is not sure how he escaped alive when it appeared they had come prepared to wipe out him and his family.

Ashok said he was waiting for his son to finish his Class 11 final exams before finding a solution to the property dispute that is alleged to be the reason behind the killing. “I wanted to dedicate my time to my son’s preparations,” said Ashok. His two older daughters are pursuing MBBS and law degrees in Bangalore and Noida, respectively.

Ashok alleged that he had been warned by his brother-in-law Jai Kishan of a murderous assault earlier on Monday. “Kishan had called me over phone to inform that Naveen Yadav was talking about eliminating my entire family. I did not take it seriously as I believed any dispute had a peaceful solution,” said Ashok.

Kishan’s body, bearing external injuries, was found in Badsa village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, less than 10 kilometres from Ghumanhera. Police said they would await interrogation of the absconding suspects to determine where and under what circumstances Kishan was killed.

“It is possible that Kishan was held hostage in the car that waited for the killers outside the school. We will need the Haryana Police’s help with investigations into his death,” said an investigator.