NEW DELHI: A 56-year-old businessman was gunned down by two bike-borne assailants at Farsh Bazar in east Delhi on Saturday morning.
The deceased was identified as Sunil Jain, who lived with his family in Krishna Nagar and ran a business selling utensils. He was returning home from a morning walk when he was shot dead. Jain was riding pillion on a scooter which his friend Sumit was riding. As they reached near the traffic light, two men on a bike approached them, shot Jain dead and fled the scene. Sumit escaped unhurt and was taken to the police station as he was the prime witness in the case.
While the circumstantial evidence points towards a targeted killing, a set of investigators believe that Jain may have been killed in a case of mistaken identity. Some witnesses claimed that the shooters fired over 12 times, while police said they found 7-8 empty cartridges, suggesting that 4-5 bullets may have hit the Jain.
Jain requested men not to kill him and take whatever he had: Witness
Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said they received information about the incident at 8.26am on Saturday. A team from the local police station rushed to the spot, which was located near Mandir Mata Chintpurni Marg in Vishwas Nagar, close to the DCP Shahdara office and Krishna Nagar police station. Jain’s utensil shop was situated approximately 500 metres away from the spot.
Surender, who works at a shop in the area, said he heard the gunshot and started running towards the sound, where he saw the body. He said he heard from people who were present at the spot that when Jain was shot, he urged the assailants not to kill him and to take whatever they wanted, but they replied that they would take his life. Both the men were wearing helmets.
Sitaram, a shopkeeper, said he was on his way to work when he mistook the gunfire for the sound of a motorcycle silencer. Only when he emerged from his home did he see the businessman’s body.
Churchill Jain, a resident of the area, said that Jain was a regular morning walker. He would leave for Yamuna Sports Complex in the morning, meet his friends -a group of 20-25 people -and exercise together. On his way back, he would often stop for tea or pick up milk before returning home. His shop workers said that he would typically arrive at the shop around 9.30am.
“What I heard is that the duo shot him in the head before fleeing the spot,” the officer said. The location where the incident took place is a busy area with several shops and hotels, and the road remains busy throughout. It has two CCTV cameras installed nearby.
The deceased’s family claimed that he had no enmity with anyone. Ekansh Jain, a relative, said that Jain’s friends informed his family about the incident. When asked whether Jain received any extortion calls or threats, Ekansh denied it. “He was someone who avoided confrontations and disagreements with others,” he added. Police are investigating the motive from different angles.
