After a 17-year-old girl was allegedly shot dead by a male friend in south-west Delhi’s Najafgarh on Tuesday evening, the Delhi Police is also investigating a possible love triangle in the murder that took place near the girl’s residence when she was sitting on the rear seat of a Mercedez Benz car owned by a property dealer’s son.
After committing the crime, the alleged killer identified as Shubham, a resident of Najafgarh, is absconding. The victim and her two friends, Shubham and Yogesh, alias Nitin, had gone to Rajouri Garden to have lunch on Tuesday.
The car and the weapon of offence, a pistol with a valid licence from the Delhi Police, belonged to Yogesh whom the victim had met for the first time on the fateful day.
“While coming back they stopped at Dwarka for shopping. The girl’s mother called her on her mobile around 7:30 pm,” said a senior police officer.
According to sources, the girl was scolded by her mother for being late. Her mother also spoke to her friend who was with her in the car and heated exchanges took place between them. Shubham shot her from point blank range in a fit of rage, said the officer.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, south-west district, Surendra Kumar, said the incident took place when the girl was returning home after having lunch with two friends identified as Shubhash and Yogesh.
It was around 7 pm, the girl’s mother began calling her, asking her to return home soon as it was getting late and she assured her mother that she would be back soon. Around 9 pm, when the trio was near the girl’s house in Najafgarh, Yogesh reportedly got out of the car because he wanted to address the nature’s call.
Yogesh after coming out of the car spotted a friend and started conversing with him when suddenly they heard a gunshot, said sources, adding that they saw the girl lying inside the car in a pool of blood.
The girl’s mother who was waiting for her at her house a few metres away, also allegedly heard the gunshot. The incident caused panic in the locality and locals gathered at the spot. The girl was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in Dwarka where doctors declared her brought dead.
Both Shubham and Yogesh are working with their fathers in their respective property dealing business in Najafgarh.
The deceased was the daughter of a property dealer and had completed her XIIth standard.
“We have recovered the car and the pistol. We have taken the statements of the eyewitnesses and the investigation is going on. A case under section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Najafgarh police station. Efforts are on to nab Shubham. After his arrest we can find out the motive of the murder,” said the DCP.
Police is also questioning Yogesh since he had the licence of the pistol. He can be booked under section 40 of the Arma Act for failing to prevent his licenced weapon from being used by another person to commit a murder, said an official.