Man, nephew shot on Diwali, juvenile held

A 40-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew were killed while his 10-year-old son was injured after a man opened fire at them outside their residence in Shahdara around 8.30 pm on Thursday. A juvenile was arrested on Friday for his alleged involvement in the incident.

The deceased have been identified as Akash Sharma, alias Chottu, and his nephew Rishabh Sharma (16) and the injured as Krish Sharma. The victims were celebrating Diwali outside their house in the Farsh Bazaar area when they were shot, police officials said on Friday.

The accused, who is around 17-year old, had hired a shooter to commit the crime. CCTV footage purportedly of the shooting incident that surfaced on social media on Friday showed one of the two accused touching Akash’s feet before the other opened fire on him.

According to police officials, the juvenile, a distant relative of the victim, claimed during interrogation that he had a dispute with Akash involving Rs 70,000 which led him to a hatch conspiracy to kill him.

“Based on the statement of Yash Sharma, an eyewitness and relative of the victims, a distant relative, the juvenile, arrived at the scene. At the same time, an unidentified individual wearing a mask also appeared. The juvenile allegedly instructed the masked man to kill Akash, after which shots were fired,” said DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam.

During the shooting, a bullet struck the 10-year-old in the foot. Following the incident, a case was registered at the Farsh Bazar police station.

Police sources indicated that the victim, Akash, and his brother had previously been involved in several criminal cases, with the brother facing 14 charges, including cheating and attempted murder.

The police said efforts are underway to arrest the masked assailant.