Four held for Amazon employee’s murder; fifth accused on the run

Police arrest four of five accused in Bhajanpura shootout; Amazon employee killed, another injured. Maya, Bilal, Suhail, Junaid arrested; Adnan on the run. Incident began when victims argued with accused over who would cross narrow lane. Maya shot victims in head from close range; Harpreet died, Govind discharged after treatment. Maya inspired by Bollywood film character; Mallu had criminal past.

Four of the five accused involved in the shootout at north-east Delhi’s Bhajanpura, where an Amazon employee was killed and another injured, have been arrested and efforts are on to catch the last accused, the police said on Friday.

According to a senior officer, while Mohammad Sameer alias Maya was arrested on Wednesday, Bilal Gani alias Mallu was caught around 2 a.m. on Thursday. Two others — Suhail, 23, and Mohammad Junaid, 19 — were arrested near Burari around 11.30 p.m. on Thursday, the officer said. The fifth accused, Adnan, 19, is on the run, he added..

The incident took place around 11.40 p.m. on Thursday when Harpreet Gill, a senior manager at Amazon, was on a bike with his relative Govind Singh riding pillion and entered an argument with the accused over whose vehicle would first cross a narrow lane.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Joy Tirkey said the scuffle escalated after Junaid, 18, slapped Govind, which culminated in Maya, 18, shooting the victims in the head from a close range. While Harpreet was pronounced dead at a hospital, Govind has been discharged after undergoing treatment.

Another officer suspected that the gang had been planning to take revenge on Harpreet as a week earlier, he allegedly slapped one of Maya’s cousins after he touched the deceased on his shoulder. “Most of the boys have only studied till class V-VIII. They wanted to create their image as gangsters in the neighbourhood,” said the officer.

A budding criminal, Maya took the nickname and formed the gang after being inspired by a character of the same name in the Bollywood film Shootout At Lokhandwala, the officer said. “While he was in juvenile home for two murders, Maya met members of the Chenu gang and built close ties with them. He had been released from custody on August 5 as a juvenile,” he added.

The DCP said that Mallu, 18, has a criminal past as well. “In 2022, he was involved in two heinous cases, including a murder and robbery case in Bhajanpura. He managed to come out of the observation home in no time,” Mr. Tirkey added.