Panic triggered on streets outside a shopping mall in south Delhi’s Saket when another bloody firing in which a group of bike-borne assailants opened fire in the area and gunned down a 30-year-old man on Sunday night. The area where the firing incident and murder took place falls in Khirki Extension area which is under the territorial jurisdiction of the Malviya Nagar police station, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Iqbal, a resident of Tigri Extension in south Delhi. The local police officers as well as Iqbal’s family members suspect the involvement of Sangam Vihar based Babli-gang behind his murder.
A senior police officer said the crime was reported to them around 8 pm by a local resident who witnessed the daring crime. Iqbal, the officer said, was a property dealer who allegedly also had criminals cases registered against him in Delhi.
On Sunday evening, Iqbal had gone to meet someone in Khirki Extension in Malviya Nagar. Around 7.50 pm, he was walking towards the bus stop and reached near a Sai Baba temple in a lane opposite the Saket Select City Mall where a gang of three men on a motorbike signalled him to stop.
"As Iqbal turned towards them, one of the assailants whipped out a pistol and shot him from a close range. The other assailants also fired a couple of rounds to scare the public and avoid getting caught while fleeing the area on their motorcycle," said a police officer adding Iqbal was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on admission.
A case of murder and arms act was registered and investigation has been taken up. Investigators were scanning footage of CCTV cameras installed at the shopping mall and in the locality for leads about identities of the attackers.