One customer killed, two critically injured as assailants open fire at liquor shop in Gurugram

Gurugram, Jun 17 (PTI) Two armed men fired more than 15 rounds at a crowded liquor shop in Gurugram, killing a customer and injuring two others, police said on Saturday.

The incident, captured in CCTV cameras installed at the outlet, took place around 8.30 pm on Friday in Panchgaon in the Manesar area here, they said.

Police suspected that the attack could have been carried out by a gang as part of an attempt to take control of the shop.

According to the police, two armed assailants reached the shop and asked the employees sitting at the cash counter whether it was owned by Kuldeep Singh. Thereafter, they threatened the employees and started firing at the roof first and then at the customers. They fired around 15 rounds before fleeing the spot, the police said.

Three customers — Sandeep, a resident of Bhahila village in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, Devraj Sharma and Rajendra Prasad, residents of Alwar in Rajasthan — were hit by bullets and rushed to a hospital, the police said.

Doctors declared Sandeep as brought dead, they said, adding Sharma and Prasad, who were critically injured, are undergoing treatment at the facility.

The liquor shop owner, Kuldeep Singh, said that a week ago he had received a call from a foreign number wherein the caller, who identified himself as Lipin Nehra, the brother of jailed gangster Pawan Nehra, threatened him that he should hand over the shop to him.

After the firing incident, he again received a call from the same number and the caller claimed responsibility for the attack, Singh, a resident of Bohra Kalan village, said.

“I was at the office behind the liquor shop and came out after hearing the sound of firing. When I shouted for help, the two accused fled from the scene. In the hospital, I again got a call from the foreign number and the caller claimed that it was the consequence of not handing over the shop to him. He again threatened to kill me,” he said in his complaint to the police.

Police said an FIR has been registered against an unidentified caller and shooters under sections 302 (murder), 307 (murder attempt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act at Manesar police station.

The police have announced a reward of Rs 50000 for providing info leading to the arrest of the suspect.

“A shooting incident occurred at a liquor shop near Pachgaon last night. Two people fired indiscriminately at the public and customers at the liquor shop. In this incident, one person died while two others were critically injured. We are trying to identify the shooters,” Station House Officer Savit Kumar said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Surender Kumar said the involvement of a gang behind this incident cannot be ruled out. “A case has been registered and to identify the miscreants, teams of crime branch along with police station are carrying out investigation,” Kumar said.