Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: Hours after three armed men opened fire at a car showroom in west Delhi’s Naraina in an extortion bid, some shooters opened fire at a hotel in Mahipalpur in south Delhi in the early hours of Saturday, leaving guests and staffers terrorised.
The role of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar syndicate is being suspected in this incident. On December 23, Brar had called the owner of the hotel and demanded Rs 2 crore as protection money.An FIR had been registered by the southwest district police. Saturday’s firing seems to be the result of the owner not yielding to the demand.
Even as the cops were coming to terms with this sudden surge in shootings related to extortion by gangsters – a new and disturbing development for the Capital – another group of shooters struck at a sweet shop in west Delhi’s Nangloi, cocking a snook at the law-enforcement authorities.
In the incident at Hotel Impress, the police received a PCR call at 3.28am and rushed to the spot. Hotel manager Surya Pratap recounted the chilling event to the investigators. “An unknown person fired multiple shots outside the hotel, spreading panic and chaos,” he said in his statement.
A hotel receptionist told the cops that the incident took place between 2.30am and 2.40am. “It was like a normal day and guests were checking in and out. Later, we learnt that four to five rounds of shots were fired, smashing the windows,” she said. Forensic experts have collected evidence and exhibits from the spot and a case has been registered at Vasant Kunj police station. The initial investigation indicates that while one of the shooters entered the hotel premises, his associate was perhaps waiting on a bike. The police are scanning CCTV footage to identify the suspects.
Police commissioner Sanjay Arora has formed multiple teams for cracking the case but no arrests have been made in any of these cases, which signal a total breakdown of law and order in the city.
The Bishnoi-Brar syndicate has been trying to make inroads in south Delhi localities like Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar by targeting the businessmen there. In the first week of Dec last year, the Special Cell had apprehended two shooters of the Bishnoi gang who had come to target a hotel owner in Vasant Kunj.
