Two women were allegedly killed by a group of assailants early on June 18 morning in the RK Puram area of the national capital, a heavy security area where the Narcotics Control Bureau, RK Puram Air Headquarters and staff camp of the Central Reserve Police Force are all located.
The women were sisters trying to save their brother from attackers, police said, adding that three accused have been arrested. The RK Puram police station recieved a Police Control Room call at 4:40 a.m. on Sunday, with the caller saying that two of his sisters had been shot at Ambedkar Basti, which is located just a short walk across the road from the NCB and Air HQ premises.
Police arrived at the spot and found that neighbours and family members had shifted the women to Safdarjung Hospital. The women — Pinky, 30 and Jyoti, 29 — were alive when they reached the hospital, but then succumbed to their injuries there, an officer said. Pinky, who lived in Munirka had two children, while Jyoti had three children and lived in Ambedkar Basti. They died while saving their brother Lalit, a taxi driver.
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The police have filed an FIR under sections pertaining to murder and have arrested three accused persons — Arjun, Micheal, and Dev — who reside in KD Colony, just a couple of kilometres away from the scene of the crime.
Loan dispute
According to a senior police officer, the accused knew Mr. Lalit as they lived near by, and had borrowed ₹10,000 from him a while ago, which he had been asking them to return. “He had approached them a few times since the last 15 days. Yesterday, he spoke to them and requested for the money again. The accused persons then attacked him,” an officer said.
According to the family, the sisters were at their father’s two-room house on a tiny lane in Ambedkar Basti, to celebrate the June 14 wedding anniversary of their other brother, Lala. The basti neighbourhood is surrounded by central government enforcement agencies and armed forces establishments, which have round-the-clock security.
The entire neighbourhood had gathered in front of the house to mourn the deaths of the two women on June 18.
Mr. Lalit’s wife Anita, 32, recounted the nightmare. Around 10 to 15 men had come to their house around 3 a.m. and threatened them to open their door, she said. “We were all sleeping and suddenly heard men screaming and banging at our door. I went up to see who these people were. For 10 minutes straight, our family was worried for our lives. We thought we’ll all get attacked. There were around eight people inside the house including children, we were fearing for our life,” Ms. Anita said.
‘Police did not show up’
After they left, about 15 minutes later, Jyoti informed a beat officer, but nobody showed up for an hour, said Ms. Anita. Responding to this claim, a senior police officer said, “No PCR call was received and regarding the claim made over a beat constable, we have checked CDR (call detail records), and no call was made to a beat constable.”
“We called our neighbours and relatives for safety. When they left, everybody gathered outside our house to understand what had happened. But suddenly, in an hour, the same group returned with four to five men carrying pistols,” Ms. Anita said.
Around 30 to 35 people gathered there when the group started threatening Mr. Lalit to take him away, and also threatened to kill those who were trying to intervene.
Preeti, a neighbour who witnessed the drama unfold, said that these threats went on for about five minutes as the assailants kept pulling Mr. Lalit. Suddenly, his sisters intervened and while safeguarding their brother, the assailants shot the two dead, she said.
“After firing five to seven rounds, they fled the spot. The two women were alive enough to tell us where they were shot. However, they succumbed to their injuries,” Ms. Preeti said.
According to the police, Pinky sustained two gunshot injuries, in her hand and her back, while Jyoti sustained one injury to her abdomen.
