A man opens fire in a residential area at Shahdara, in New Delhi, Thursday night, Oct. 31, 2024. At least two people were killed in the incident.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A juvenile was apprehended on Friday for his alleged involvement in the shooting incident in Shahdara's Farsh Bazar area on Diwali evening in which a man and his teenage nephew were killed while his 15-year-old son was injured, police said.
According to police officials, the juvenile, a distant relative of the victim, claimed during interrogation that he had a dispute with Akash Sharma involving Rs 70,000 which led him to a hatch conspiracy to kill him.
The accused, who is around 17 years old, had hired a shooter to commit the crime, a police officer said.
CCTV footage purportedly of the shooting incident that surfaced on social media on Friday showed one of the two accused touching Akash Sharma's feet before the other opened fire on him.
The clip showed Akash along with his nephew Rishabh Sharma (16), and son Krish were seen celebrating Diwali outside their house in Bihari Colony when around 8 pm the two accused came there on a scooty.
One of the bike riders touched Akash's feet while the other, wearing a mask and with a bottle in hand, stood nearby. Suddenly the masked man started firing, the footage from a CCTV camera showed.
The shooter started running as he kept firing at Rishabh and Krish, who chased him.
The three victims were taken to a hospital where Akash and Rishabh were declared dead while Krish was undergoing treatment, police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said the juvenile accused, a distant relative of the victim, has been apprehended.
"During interrogation, he said that he was having a financial dispute of Rs 70,000 with Akash. Investigations are still on and we are trying to nab the shooter," the DCP said.
The officer said Akash had to return the money to the accused but was avoiding his calls and messages.
According to the deceased's family, they had a rivalry with the accused and his kin over property and money.
Akash's mother Shashi told reporters that they were getting threats for the past several days. "A day earlier, he came to our house with a packet of sweet. Since his family have an enmity with us, we avoided him," she said.
"Because of that family, I lost my husband. Now my son and grandson have also been murdered," Shashi said.
Another police officer said Akash used to run a cosmetic shop near his house and was booked several times in cases of gambling. Akash's brother too faces multiple criminal cases but he was not present at at the spot during the incident.
The police said statements of the family members have been recorded and teams were formed to nab the shooter.