Duo had history of violence against each other: police

The police on Friday said that the two families had attacked each other several times in the past and there were at least nine criminal cases registered against each family since 2011. The charges included molestation, causing hurt, and attempt to commit culpable homicide.

The police said that Jaspal Singh Aneja’s son Kunwar Aneja, who was not in Delhi during Thursday’s incident, had allegedly attacked Gurjeet’s family members in 2017 after which a case under Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the IPC was registered against him.

Neighbours were reminded of the Ponty-Hardeep Chaddha murder case of 2012 where the two brothers were allegedly killed in crossfire.

“The Anejas fought with each other publicly on the street on at least four occasions. The most recent fight was around three months ago,” said a neighbour, adding that the families fought over water and parking.

Area landmark

Another neighbour, Vickey Oberoi, said he remembered the duo’s father because of whom the 500 square yard plot, which the brothers were fighting over, came to be known as ‘Toofan ki kothi’.

“There are landmarks in every area, in Model Town II, the landmark was ‘Toofan ki kothi,” he said, referring to duo’s father Harnam Singh Aneja, who was popularly known as Harnam Singh Toofan.

“Harnam Singh Aneja’s influence in the area was immense. Everybody would come to him to solve their problems. Till he was alive, the brothers could not utter a word,” Mr. Oberoi said.

Separate prayer meetings

The neighbour said that the enmity between the two families is so strong that the last rites of the deceased are being conducted separately on Friday evening. The prayer meetings have also been scheduled at different times on Tuesday.

“One is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., and the other from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” said Satnam Singh, the elder brother of the two deceased.