A 50-year-old cloth merchant was allegedly killed by unidentified assailants outside his shop on Tuesday night when he was closing for the day. The shop is located near Jain Temple in Sadar Bazar. Police said the entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras, but the accused managed to flee with the victim’s scooty and cash. Police said it appears that the attackers had planned the murder and they were aware of the fact that the shop keeper was carrying a substantial amount of cash.
The deceased was identified as Sudhir Taneja. He had reportedly sustained three gunshot wounds and was admitted to a private Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
According to the police around 10.15 pm, the victim was leaving his shop when the incident took place. He left his establishment on a sooty with a bag of cash. Three men approached him on a bike and shot him from close range before fleeing with the vehicle and cash.
“The accused shot Taneja from very close range and bullets pierced through his heart and he died on the spot,” said Dr Deepak Mathur, who conducted the autopsy.
Police are scanning the CCTV footage of the incident for clues. Police claimed that the victim also ran a lottery business and stayed in Sector-7.”The culprits knew that Taneja was carrying more than Rs 12 lakh in cash. However his family didn’t mention the amount in the police complaint,” a police official said.
“It’s too early to say anything. We have reviewed around 200 CCTV footages and are talking to the family members. Also, we have questioned 150 people including Taneja’s servant who is also an eye witness in the case,” said DCP (west) Sumer Singh. “We can’t confirm the number of assailants, whether they were three or four. Police teams are working on certain leads”, the DCP added.