Delhi: Group behind murder of gangster Mahal’s father identified, no arrest yet

Mukesh jumps into the fields nearby but Kishan is caught in the fire. Two men then emerge from the car and fire a few more rounds at Kishan, killing him on the spot. Police said 15-20 rounds were fired in the attack.

In a scene reminiscent of the iconic film Godfather, CCTV footage from several cameras shows jailed gangster Manjeet Mahal’s father buying vegetables from a vendor outside his house in Najafgarh’s Mitraon village at the time of the incident.

The spot where Sri Krishan ( 74), father of gangster Manjeet Mahal, was shot dead outside his house in Mitraon village, Najafgarh, on Sunday.

Seventy-year-old Shri Kishan can be seen with domestic help Mukesh when four-five assailants arrive in a Scorpio. As the men fire several shots, Kishan and Mukesh duck for safety.

Mukesh jumps into the fields nearby but Kishan is caught in the fire. Two men then emerge from the car and fire a few more rounds at Kishan, killing him on the spot. Police said 15-20 rounds were fired in the attack.

The shooting on Sunday had lead to heightened tension in the region. Following the incident, the police had decided to provide security to the relatives of jailed criminals in Najafgarh.

Read: Delhi gang war: Police to provide security to kin of jailed criminals in Najafgarh

The police have scanned footage from at least six CCTV cameras installed at the gate and front wall of Mahal’s home. However, they have not been able to identify the five assailants as the footage was not clear. Only one suspect has been identified so far on the basis of the statement of Mukesh. The suspect has been identified as Ankush alias Bholu, a member of the Jyoti-Kapil Sangwan gang that is alleged to be behind the killing.

“We have interrogated scores of suspects and detained about a dozen people. The main killer has been identified and the rest are his friends. We hope to make the arrests soon,” said Rishi Pal, DCP (outer), on Tuesday.

CCTV footage: How gangster Mahal’s father was shot point blank in Delhi

Mahal is currently in Tihar Jail after being arrested last December for allegedly masterminding the murder of ex-MLA, Bharat Singh, two years ago. While Singh’s brother, gangster-turned-councillor Krishan Pehalwan, was initially suspected to be behind the attack, police later zeroed down on the Jyoti-Kapil Sangwan gang as the killers.

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The bloody rivalry began in December 2015 when Mahal and his associates had allegedly gunned down the brother-in-law of Jyoti alias Baba. Since then, the rival gang has killed four persons known to Mahal. Otherwise, the notorious village of Mitraon has already witnessed more than 60 deaths in gang wars over the last two decades.

“The CCTV cameras installed outside the victim’s house have helped us confirm the exact sequence of events, but the footage quality is not good enough to identify any of the killers,” said a senior police officer. The footage helped recognise the number plate on the Scorpio car, but even that turned out to be a fake.

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