Two youths on a motorcycle shot dead the owner of a Mother Diary booth in the posh Sector 14 market on Wednesday morning during a failed robbery attempt.
The incident took place at 9.45 when the duo, aged about 19-20, reached the milk booth on a black Pulsar motorcycle. “Along with helmets, both wore sky blue shirts and dark blue trousers, like school students. One of them tried snatching cash from the cash-box. Owner Rattan Yadav (60), who was sitting at the back, pounced on the robber and this led to a scuffle,” said Umesh Mudgil, president of Market Welfare Association, Sector 14.
During the scuffle the youth threatened to fire at Yadav if he did not let go, but Yadav held on. The man shot Yadav in the neck and fled on the bike. Yadav died on the spot.
Enraged traders, numbering around 170, downed shutters at the market and took to the streets to protest the spate of crime in the last few days.
On Monday, two motorcycle borne-youths blinded a Red Cross Society staffer and snatched Rs 1 lakh from him. The same evening, real estate firm executive Parveen Chawla was shot dead. On Sunday night, robbers had fired at the owner of Samrat Bakery in the busy Sadar Market during a failed robbery attempt. On March 31, robbers had snatched Rs 80,000 from an employee, again at Sector 14 market.
Later the traders, supported by local leaders from the Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP, sat in protest in front of the Civil Hospital and blocked traffic for a couple of hours.
{{/usCountry}}Later the traders, supported by local leaders from the Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP, sat in protest in front of the Civil Hospital and blocked traffic for a couple of hours.
{{/usCountry}}“The blockade was lifted only after the DCP, JCP, SDM and police commissioner S.S. Deswal reached the spot and assured the protesters that the murder and robbery cases would be solved soon,” said advocate and BJP leader Kulbhushan Bhardwaj.
“Despite the police commissioner assuring us on March 14 that police personnel and patrols would be increased here, nothing has been done yet,” Mudgil added.
Deswal admitted the sudden spurt in crime in the last few days. “If you go by records, incidents of murder, robbery, burglary, vehicle theft and others had gone down during the first four months of this year,” he said.