Municipal schoolteacher shot dead in Delhi, gangsters’ hand suspected

The police did not identify the attackers till late evening but sources confirmed that the names of outer Delhi gangsters Jitender alias Gogi and his rival Tillu had cropped up during investigation.

A guest teacher at a municipal school was gunned down by unidentified assailants outside the school in Swaroop Nagar on Monday evening, said the police.

The spot where the teacher was shot dead.

The deceased, Deepak Baliyan (31) was a resident of Tajpur village and had joined the North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run primary school in July this year.

The police did not identify the attackers till late evening but sources confirmed that the names of outer Delhi gangsters Jitender alias Gogi and his rival Tillu had cropped up during investigation.

Gogi, who absconded from Delhi Police custody last year, and his rival Tillu, have been involved in a gang war in Tajpur area of outer Delhi’s Alipur for the past four years.

DCP north west Milind Dumbere said that around 4.30pm, they received a call about a firing near a municipal school. “Upon reaching there, we found one person named Deepak lying near the gate of the school in a pool of blood with several bullet injuries on his body. Initial CCTV footage shows assailants were in a Grand i10 car. We are trying to ascertain the exact number of assailants,” said Dumbere. A police team later rushed him to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

As the assailants started firing, Deepak tried to run towards his own car parked outside the school but before he could reach there, over five bullets had hit him.

Crime and forensic teams later arrived at the spot and collected samples.

“We are collecting further facts to establish the motive,” added Dumbere.

No police verification for guest teachers

Asked if Deepak had any criminal record of his own or association with gangs based in outer Delhi, Dumbere said that no such background details had emerged till lMonday evening but they were probing the same. A North agency spokesperson said that their education department manages the appointments of ad hoc teachers and at the time of hiring, only academic credentials are checked and not police verification.

Gangs

A source said that the nature of the crime — multiple bullets shot — led them to believe the involvement of a gang as Deepak hailed from an area where Gogi and Tillu have killed several members of other gangs. Deepak is survived by his wife, also a teacher by profession, and two children.