65-yr-old shot at in Dwarka car snatching

Family members allege cops dumped victim at an ill-equipped private nursing home.

In another incident of police apathy, a bleeding senior citizen and brother-in-law of a Delhi High Court Judge, Ramesh Bareja (65), was allegedly dumped by the police at an ill-equipped private nursing home after he was shot at by unidentified assailants in Dwarka around 1.30 pm on Saturday.

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The incident occurred when he tried to resist three bike-borne unidentified assailants who tried to snatch his Maruti Zen car. The assailants shot Bareja in his right hand and fled with his wallet, mobile phone and car.

A generator parts manufacturer, Bareja—brother-in-law of Delhi High Court Judge Justice Rekha Sharma—was on his way to a meeting. “He was supposed to meet someone for a business transaction and had stopped the car near some rickshaw pullers to ask for directions when he was attacked,” said A.K Sharma (66), Bareja’s brother-in-law and retired army officer.

Shot, Bareja hurried to the police station.

“It took him 20 minutes in a rickshaw to reach the nearest police station with the bullet still in his hand,” said Sharma.

The family alleges that the nursing home was not equipped to treat patients with bullet injuries.

Half-an-hour after the incident, Bareja’s only daughter, Megha Despande (27)—who he had managed to call—had to rush him to the AIIMS Trauma Centre for proper medical attention.

“He finally called Megha who rushed from her sector 10 residence and took him from the private nursing home, where he had been left by the police, to AIIMS,” said Sharma.

According to his family, Bareja is stable and the bullet had been surgically removed from his right hand.

“There is no point where the question of police inaction has risen. It was the police which took him to the hospital and he is satisfied,” said Rajan Bhagat, spokesman, Delhi Police.

A case has been registered.