Robbers on bike shoot Delhi cop near police picket

In an alleged robbery attempt, a 50-year-old assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Delhi Police was shot at by two unidentified motorcycle-borne men in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday on a busy road in north Delhi. The incident took place around midnight on the Outer Ring Road, barely 300 metres from a police picket, when ASI Bedi Ram was on his way home to Seelampur after completing his shift at Nizamuddin police station.

Witnesses said the two assailants had also allegedly robbed another man of his cash and mobile phone minutes before targeting the policeman. Police are yet to make any arrest.

According to police, as ASI Ram crossed Vijay Ghat to reach an underpass on the Outer Ring Road, two men on a motorcycle intercepted him.

Ankur Panchal, who had informed the police control room about the incident, said he stopped after spotting the ASI crying for help. “His clothes were drenched in blood and he was trying to stop cars for help. I and four of my colleagues were in a car and we were heading towards the Iron Bridge when we saw him and stopped by. I got down and called 100,” Panchal, who works as a news analyst at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said.

By the time, another man who alleged that he had also been attacked and robbed by the two men, who shot the policeman, arrived at the spot with some policemen, Panchal said. “He told us that when he was coming from Jama Masjid side, the two men on a Bullet motorcycle intercepted him and snatched about ₹40,000 and his mobile phone and purse. He said the two men then approached the policemen and shot him following a scuffle. The man said he rushed to a police post near the Yamuna Iron Bridge and asked for help,” Panchal said.

The police then rushed ASI Ram to Lok Nayak hospital from where he was moved to AIIMS Trauma Centre. Ram underwent a surgery and the bullet was removed, police said.

Police said Ram was in uniform but was wearing a jacket because of which he was probably mistaken for a civilian by the suspects.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (north) Harendra Kumar Singh said they are yet to record the ASI’s statement to know the exact sequence of incident. “We have registered a case of attempt to murder at Kotwali police station. The ASI’s phone is missing but we are not sure if the two men took it or it was misplaced during the scuffle. We are also looking into the possibility of personal enmity behind the attack,” Singh said, adding that they have formed teams to scan possible suspects from previous cases that the ASI had investigated.

The additional DCP, however, said he did not have reports on the alleged robbery that could have triggered the shooting. “We have not received any complaint from anyone so far,” he said.

“We have been told that the accused were on a Bullet motorcycle and therefore CCTV footage from the vicinity of the crime spot are being checked to trace the registration number of all the bikes of same make that passed from the spot around that time,” the officer said.

First Published: Feb 09, 2019 12:11 IST