Auto driver robbed, shot at in Chhawla

NEW DELHI: An auto driver was shot at after an argument with two men who refused to pay the fare in southwest Delhi’s Chhawla.

NEW DELHI: An auto driver was shot at after an argument with two men who refused to pay the fare in southwest Delhi’s Chhawla.

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Police said local residents called up the police control room about the incident that took place near the Chhawla bus stop.

Umesh Pal,32, told police that at around 11.30 pm on Wednesday, two men hailed his auto-rickshaw at Uttam Nagar and asked him to take them to Chhawla.

Pal first refused to ply by the meter and demanded Rs 200 but the two accused argued with him and convinced him to go by the meter fare.

”When they reached Chhawla bus stop, the duo asked Pal to stop. The meter fare till that point came out as Rs 160. They said they did not have money and told him that one of them would wait inside the auto and the other would go to the house and get Rs 160,” a police officer said.

Pal told the police that the man who was supposed to wait inside the auto also followed the other. When Pal tried to stop them, they thrashed him.

Pal tried to fight them off but they took out a gun and robbed him of his earnings of the day. When Pal resisted further, one of the accused shot at him.

Police said Pal was hit on his shoulder. He was rushed to a nearby hospital by local residents in his auto-rickhaw.

A senior police officer said a case of attempt to murder and under Arms Act has been registered. The police are scanning the CCTV footage from cameras installed near the crime scene to identify the gunmen.

Pal is now out of danger, the officer said.