Assailants go on shooting spree in East Delhi to find ‘target’, kill him

Police said they have identified the main accused, but no arrests have been made yet.

DCP (East) Priyanka Kashyap said, “We found that the deceased, Mayank Chauhan, received two-three bullet injuries. He was rushed to the hospital by his friend, but he died. We registered two cases against the shooters and have sent multiple teams to nab them.”

Several videos of the incident were uploaded on social media. One of them shows a group of men armed with sticks, bats and pistols attacking a family and breaking into their house in Shakarpur. Another video shows an injured man trying to hide behind a scooter.

According to police sources, Chauhan and the accused knew each other and recently got into a fight. The victim’s family also alleged that the accused were targeting Chauhan over a petty issue. His father Sanjeev said, “He was at his friend’s house when he received a call from someone and was asked to stand outside. They (the group) attacked him and tried to pull him into their car, but he managed to escape.

They followed him and fired three bullets that hit him in the back. They have been harassing my son for almost a year.” His family said he recently got engaged to a woman who lives near his house and was going to get married this year.

According to police, they first received a PCR call around 11 pm on Wednesday at Shakarpur police station. The caller alleged that a group of 10-12 men fired near a school and damaged cars and bikes in the area. At 11.10 pm, another local called and informed police about the same.

Police said they reached the spot and found two damaged cars and a scooter. “The accused were in two cars and bikes. We also found empty cartridges at the spot,” said an officer.

Aryan, a student who lives in the area, said the accused fired at his family: “My parents and I were returning home… we were right outside our house when we saw a group of men running towards us. They started firing. We were shocked and rushed inside. They were trying to shoot my father and fired two rounds. They then entered through the main gate and fired five rounds. They also damaged our scooter and car. They then attacked my father who was lying on the road. One of them later said they had the wrong target and left. We saved ourselves in time.”

Even as police registered a case and sent teams to locate the accused, the men reached Laxmi Nagar. Police received a second PCR call at Laxmi Nagar police station at 12.06 am Thursday; they suspect the same group fired around five times near a gurdwara which led to Chauhan’s death. Locals also alleged that they saw the accused following the man in the lane and later killing him.