12-year-old boy shot at in Geeta Colony

NEW DELHI: Six intoxicated criminals fired indiscriminately at a house in east Delhi’s Geeta Colony area in the early hours on Monday, injuring a 12-year-old boy.

NEW DELHI: Six intoxicated criminals fired indiscriminately at a house in east Delhi’s Geeta Colony area in the early hours on Monday, injuring a 12-year-old boy.

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Police said the criminals attacked the house because they were annoyed with the elder brother of the victim for not calling their leader “Bhai” or don of the area. An officer said the assailants fired 15 bullets at the house, one which pierced the gate and hit Asghar Ali. The boy was coming outside thinking somebody was burning firecrackers.

Asghar was rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where his condition was stated to be serious. The bullet hit the boy between the chest and ribs, said police. Asghar’s family alleged that the firing lasted for around 20 minutes but the police did not reach the spot even though they had alerted the police control room.

Panicked residents locked themselves in their homes. A local resident said the attackers also banged at Asghar’s house and challenged the family to come out and face them.

A police officer said on Sunday Asghar’s elder brother, Mukhtar, had an argument with his friends -- Manni, Billa and Shivam, all allegedly involved in petty crimes in the area. One of them asked Mukhtar to address Billa as “Bhai” or don of the area but Mukhtar refused.

“My son left the place in his car but the goons followed him on their motorcycles. They followed him till Chandni Chowk area but lost track of him after which my son returned home around 10.30 pm and we all went to sleep after dinner,” said Haider Ali, Asghar’s father.

A case was registered and one of the attackers has been identified as Rahul, who was recently released from jail in a murder case, said a police officer.