Unidentified individuals shot dead Deepak, 35, a notorious criminal associated with the Ashok Rathi gang, inside his car on a service lane of the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway near Sidhrawali in Bilaspur on Sunday night, Diwali, police said on Monday.
The killing may have been the fallout of a gang war, they added. Police suspect the attackers fired from two sides to ensure he was killed. Investigators said the incident took place between 11.30pm and 11.45pm on Sunday but came to light around 8am on Monday, when commuters spotted the car with a body in the driver’s seat. At least 15 to 20 rounds were fired at the car, which was possibly intercepted by the suspects using another vehicle, according to the police. Investigators said there were at least 10 to 15 bullet holes in Deepak’s car. Inspector Sunil Kumar, station house officer of Bilaspur police station, said a first information report (FIR) under section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act was in the process of being registered.
Deepak, who hailed from Sidhrawali, was found in the driver’s seat of his bullet-riddled Maruti Swift car, police said. A senior police officer said Deepak was currently handling all the operations of the Ashok Rathi gang. Soon after receiving the information, teams from Bilaspur and neighbouring police stations, crime branch personnel and forensic experts reached the spot, police said. The suspects arrived in the second car minutes after Deepak left home and reached the service lane, police said. “Raids were on to nab the suspects,” he added.
