At the court, Tuesday. The undertrial, Dinesh Karalia, is accused in the murder of Haryanvi singer Harshita Dahiya. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
In a fallout of the rivalry between Delhi’s most-wanted gangster Jitender Gogi and jailed criminal Sunil Tillu, a man identified as Dinesh Karalia was shot at inside the Tis Hazari court premises — where he had come for a hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Police said a juvenile, who was apprehended from the spot, opened fire at Karalia while he was sitting inside a jail van of the Haryana Police near gate number 2.
Dinesh, who is currently lodged in Rohtak Jail, is facing at least a dozen criminal cases, including the murder of his sister-in-law Harshita Dahiya, a Haryanvi singer, in Panipat. He was brought to Delhi from Rohtak to be produced in court for a hearing in a theft case.
DCP (north) Jatin Narwal said, “Dinesh was admitted to Sushruta Tauma Centre and is recuperating. The bullet hit his shoulder. The attacker, whose age is being verified, was caught by a team of the Special Cell and local police. A countrymade pistol was recovered from the spot.”
According to DCP (special cell) Sanjeev Yadav, the Special Cell team was already at the court at the time. Police sources said, “He was sitting in the van along with other undertrials, when the attacker aimed through the small space in the window and opened fire.”
Officers at the spot caught hold of the attacker. During questioning, he told police that a gang member dropped him outside court. “He was looking for a chance to shoot Dinesh during the hearing. He had done a recce of the court for a month,” said police sources.
DCP Yadav said the juvenile had attacked Dinesh at Tillu’s behest. “He also said he was involved in the murder of Monu Nepali outside Rohini court in March this year,” he added. Police said Nepali was a close aide of Gogi.
Earlier, Gogi and his gang members had allegedly gunned down Tillu’s associate Ravi Bhardwaj in Prashant Vihar. Police said the gang rivalry has claimed over half a dozen lives in the past three years. Police said Gogi has been on the run since he escaped from custody in 2016 while Tillu is in Mandoli jail.