NEW DELHI:A 40-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew were shot dead outside their house on the night of Deepawali in Shahdara area of Delhi, a senior police officer said on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Akash Sharma (40) and his 16-year-old nephew while his 15-year-old son sustained bullet injuries when he came in the middle of the barrage of fire.
A video of the brazen attack also went viral on social media where the victims Akash and Rishabh, both donning yellow Kurtas, could be seen busy in Diwali celebrations, probably about to burst firecrackers on the street next to their house before they were gunned down.
Two men, including the accused juvenile who was later found as a distant relative of the victim, arrived there on a scooter.
The juvenile remained seated on his scooter and touched Akash's feet while the second person, who was holding a bottle and hiding a gun under his shirt suddenly whipped out the pistol and fired a series of shots at Akash who rushed back into his house in a bid to save his life. A bullet also hit Akash's son Krish.
The nephew Rishabh who was probably stunned by the sudden attack, as evident in the viral video, rushed behind the attackers as they were fleeing through a narrow street. However, the unidentified shooter fired another shot which Rishabh on his throat and he too was killed.
DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said a PCR call regarding the firing incident in Gali no. 1, Bihari Colony, Delhi was received at Farsh Bazar on Thursday at 8.23 pm after which the police along with senior officers went to the spot and met the victim's family.
There it was found out that three people have sustained bullet injuries and have been rushed to the hospital. "Akash was brought dead while Rishabh died during treatment. Krish has also received a bullet injury and is currently receiving treatment," the DCP said.
He said the statement of eyewitness, Akash's son Yash, was recorded who identified one of the attackers as their distant relative. "Their relative, who is a juvenile, asked the other person to kill Akash and that person whipped out a pistol and fired shots at the three persons," the DCP said.
Accordingly, a case was registered and the accused juvenile was apprehended. On interrogation he disclosed, Akash Sharma had promised to give him Rs 70,000 but later on he refused to pay the said amount.
"The juvenile wanted to take revenge from Akash as the latter had not paid the amount, so he contacted his friends for killing Akash," the officer said, adding further probe is on.