New Delhi: The woman accompanying the man who was shot dead in a food outlet in west Delhi allegedly befriended him using a fake social media handle, police said on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Aman Joon, 26, was killed when he was seated with the woman inside a Burger King outlet in Rajouri Garden's J Block.
In a CCTV footage of the incident that surfaced on Thursday, the woman, who is also wanted in an extortion case linked to gangster Himashu Bhau, is seen to be showing something to the slain man on a phone when two shooters sprayed him with bullets, firing at least 38 bullets.
She is suspected to have reeled him in to meet him at Rajouri Garden's Burger King where the man was killed. Police said she had earlier asked to meet in the north campus area but when Joon said he did not want to that far, they decided on Rajouri Garden.
The killing is being seen as a part of an ongoing gang war between jailed gangsters Neeraj Bawana and Ashok Pradhan.
Fugitive Spain-based gangster Himanshu Bhau, who is a close aide of Bawana, took responsibility for the killing in a social media post, saying his gang had avenged the killing of Bawana's cousin Shakti Singh in October 2020. Joon is believed to have passed on information regarding Shakti Singh's whereabouts to Pradhan, police have said.
The CCTV footage of the food outlet that surfaced on social media on Thursday showed the two shooters sitting behind Joon who was speaking to the woman. She was showing something on the phone to Joon when the shooters opened fire, the 14-second video showed.
Others at the food joint ran helter-skelter when the firing began. Joon also tried to escape and ran towards the counter but the duo chased him and pumped multiple bullets into him.
According to the FIR, at least 38 bullets were fired by the two shooters. The woman is suspected to have escaped with Joon's mobile phone.
Before, Joon had video-called his friend waiting outside and showed the woman to him, a police officer said. Police have recorded the friend's statement, he said.
According to the officer, the investigation has revealed that the woman used a fake social media handle to befriend Joon.
Police have identified the woman, who is now an important suspect, and several teams are working to nab her, an officer said.
A native of Haryana's Rohtak, she is facing criminal cases, including an alleged extortion bid on a famous Haryana sweetshop owner -- a case that also allegedly involved Himashu Bhau.
The Crime Branch team has visited her house in Rohtak and the PG she was staying in for the past few days in Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, an officer said. She had used a fake Aadhar card to get the accommodation in Mukherjee Nagar, the officer said.
She is a psychology graduate and had good grades in school, police said.
Police further said that they have identified the two shooters, who were previously involved in the murder of a liquor trader in Sonipat's Murthal in March this year. That murder, also a gang rivalry-related killing was committed at the behest of Himanshu Bhau, police said.
Several teams of Delhi Police, including the Crime Branch and Special Cell, have been formed to nab both the shooters and the woman, the officer said.