Ghaziabad: Armed bikers open fire on SUV, kill one

According to police, the victim, Mintu Gurjar, a wrestler, and his driver Nagendra were headed to Gurjar’s residence in Ghazipur area of Delhi when their SUV was cornered by seven men on three bikes. The men started firing indiscriminately at Gurjar, who was sitting next to the driver.

A 30-year-old man was gunned down and the driver of his car suffered gunshot injuries after unidentified bikers opened fire on the Scorpio SUV they were travelling in near Vasundhara on Wednesday afternoon. The police suspect this to be an incident of rivalry over a parking lot in Delhi.

The duo was returning from the Ghaziabad court after a hearing when their SUV was cornered by armed assailants on the Hindon barrage road, the police said. (HT Photo)

The duo was returning from the Ghaziabad court after a hearing when their SUV was cornered by armed assailants on the Hindon barrage road, the police said.

According to police, the victim, Mintu Gurjar, a wrestler, and his driver Nagendra were headed to Gurjar’s residence in Ghazipur area of Delhi when their SUV was cornered by seven men on three bikes. The men started firing indiscriminately at Gurjar, who was sitting next to the driver.

According to the police, the victim worked as a parking manager and handled operations of a parking lot, owned by one Manoj, at a hospital in Patparganj. The police said that they had a dispute with another group, led by one Dharamveer Sethi.

“He (Gurjar) sustained at least five bullet injuries and collapsed in the car. The driver also sustained gunshots but he is undergoing treatment and may survive,” said Sudesh Gupta, circle officer (Indirapuram).

“In 2013, one Praveen, from Gurjar’s group, was shot at in a mall in Kaushambi. Later, a case was filed and Gurjar became a witness in the case. Later, Gurjar was severely beaten up the members of the other group and a case was filed against them. Both groups have a rivalry over the parking lot and often got involved in tussles. We suspect that this was the reason behind the attack,” Gupta said.

The incident took place on the busy Hindon canal road around 2pm and a police patrol van also reached the spot within minutes. Passersby had tried to drive the injured duo to a hospital but the police arrived and drove the SUV to a hospital in Vaishali, where Gurjar was declared brought dead.

A large number of bouncers and wrestlers associated with Gurjar also reached the hospital after the incident.

Gurjar’s family filed a complaint with the police and an FIR was lodged against five persons and two unidentified persons.

“Our teams are trying to make arrests as soon as possible and do not wish to disclose the names, else they will flee. The FIR mentions rivalry over the parking lot as the motive behind the murder,” Gupta said.