Software engineer shot dead, car robbed in northwest Delhi

A 25-year-old software engineer was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants on Sunday night in northwest Delhi's Saraswati Vihar, police said.

On his way back from a friend's wedding in neighbouring Ashok Vihar, Prateek Trikha was reportedly less than half-a-kilometre away from his residence at Rajnagar when the assailants intercepted him.

"We were told about the incident by a local watchman at 12.45 am. Trikha, who worked at a software firm in Noida, was shot twice. The assailants left their bike behind and fled the spot in the victim's car," a senior Delhi Police officer investigating the incident said.

According to the police, Trikha was barely 500 metres away from his residence at Rajnagar's C block.

"Trikha had just reached a temple in his Honda City car when two men on a bike waylaid him. They dragged him out of the car at gun point, robbed his valuables and shot him twice - on his chest and stomach when he attempted to resist them," the officer said.

Police said local residents, who witnessed the swift snatching unfold, rushed Trikha to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Trikha is survived by his father SK Trikha, who works at the Oriental Bank's Karol Bagh branch, his mother and a younger brother.

"The motorbike used by the culprits has been impounded and we are trying to establish the vehicle's ownership. It might be possible that the bike used in the commission of the crime was stolen. We have registered a case and are investigating the matter," the officer added.