Car showroom, hotel & sweets shop attacked in extortion-linked shootings
The Capital witnessed a series of brazen shootings on Friday, targeting a luxury car showroom, a hotel and a sweetmeat shop. The incidents, suspected to be part of an extortion racket, have raised alarm in the city, although no injuries were reported in any of the attacks.
In the first incident, three armed assailants opened fire at a second-hand luxury car showroom, ‘Car Street Mini’, in West Delhi’s Naraina around 7.15 pm. The showroom, located just a km from the Naraina police station, was attacked by gunmen who fired more than 10 rounds at vehicles and the reception area.
Four luxury cars — two BMWs, a Mercedes and a Mini Cooper — were damaged in the attack. While no one was injured, the shooters snatched a salesman’s phone and threw it about 100 m away before fleeing. They also left behind a slip reading ‘Bhau Gang, since 2020’, referencing wanted gangster Himanshu Bhau, who fled to Portugal in 2022 and is linked to previous extortion cases.
This shooting in Naraina bears similarities to a May attack on another car showroom in Tilak Nagar, West Delhi, where the same gang was suspected of demanding Rs 5 crore from the showroom owners. The Delhi Police have registered a case and formed multiple teams to track down the assailants involved in the latest attack.
A second shooting took place in South West Delhi’s Mahipalpur near the Indira Gandhi International Airport. A motorcycle-borne assailant fired five-six rounds at the glass entrance of Hotel Impress, causing significant damage. The local police have launched an investigation into the attack.
According to police sources, a police team reached the hotel after a PCR call was received at 3.28 am, and as per a witness, an unidentified person came and fired outside the hotel.
In the third incident, three rounds were fired outside Roshan Halwai, a sweetmeat shop in West Delhi’s Nangloi. Witnesses reported that two masked men on a two-wheeler approached the shop and opened fire before fleeing. The police recovered three empty bullet shells and two live rounds from the scene. Like the other incidents, no injuries were reported.
The surge in shootings, linked to extortion attempts, has heightened tensions in the affected areas. The Delhi Police have registered FIRs in each case and intensified their investigation, deploying multiple teams to trace the culprits and curb further incidents.
