A 26-year-old Delhi Police beat constable was shot dead by two assailants on a bike in North-East Delhi’s Jafrabad area on Saturday afternoon. Dharampal joined the police force in 2010. This is the second such incident in two months of a policeman being gunned down in North-East Delhi area. Crime Branch and Special Cell have joined the probe. Since Dharampal was killed in the line of duty, he will be cremated with full police honours.
According to police, the incident took place around 12.30 pm in Maujpur Chowk area in Jafrabad. Constable Dharampal was patrolling the area then. He was tasked to verify the arms licences of a few people in the area. He had already verified a few and was heading to Jafrabad police station. As he walked towards his motorcycle, two men on a bike wearing visors attacked him. They tried to slash his hip holster. When they couldn’t, they pumped two bullets into him and fled the spot. But before fleeing, they took his holster and service revolver.
A PCR van patrolling the area rushed Dharampal to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He had sustained two bullet wounds — one to his neck and the other to his nape. The body has been sent for a post-mortem exam. Oddly enough no empty cartridges were recovered from the scene of crime. Police officials are now scouring the drains in the area to see if cartridges had been tossed in them.
Sources revealed the attackers were known to the police official since not much resistance was put up while trying to divest him of his holster. The assailants seemed about 5’7” tall and knew the area layout well since they escaped through the alleyways. “Dharampal was on his phone and heading to his bike when he was attacked. We are trying to suss out if he had a personal grudge or a
relationship had gone sour,” informed a source. His call data records too are being examined. Cops are also scanning CCTV footage to ascertain the exact sequence of events. “A case of murder has been registered. Various teams have been formed to crack the case. Investigation is in progress,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) RA Sanjeev.
Dharampal was a resident of Hapur area in Uttar Pradesh. His widowed mother works as a labourer. He is also survived by four sisters and two brothers. The family has been informed and will be reaching the Capital on Sunday. He was earlier posted with Bhajanpura police station and had joined Jafrabad only a month ago.