“I heard a gunshot and then I saw my father collapse. I was unaware what had happened. My mother, who was in the kitchen, also rushed out after seeing him in a pool of blood from the window,” said deceased’s son Aditya.
Rupesh owned a paint shop at the ground floor of his house and was standing outside his house watching his children play when he was shot dead by two unidentified assailants in Taimoor Nagar.
Locals alleged the JJ cluster in the area has turned into a den of anti-social elements where sale of drugs is a prominent issue.
Santosh Singh, a local, said the land belongs to the police but it was encroached upon several years ago. Over the years, shanties on the encroached land kept growing without any check by authorities concerned.
At present, there are more than 800 shanties. “Even policemen refuse to enter the area fearing backlash from people living in shanties. Sale of cannabis, smack, heroin and liquor is rampant. Many a times, drug addicts are found in our residential area searching for drugs,” he added.