Gunmen shoot dead 2 women over monetary dispute with brother, 3 held; AAP, BJP trade barbs

Gunmen allegedly shot dead two women in southwest Delhi's RK Puram in the early hours of Sunday over a suspected financial dispute with their brother, police said.

Three accused have been arrested in connection with the shooting incident at RK Puram's Ambedkar Basti, which is situated behind the high-security Army and Air Force headquarters. There are also offices of the CRPF and NCB in the area.

Raids are being conducted to nab the other associates of the accused involved in the firing incident, police said.

In grainy footage from a purported video shot by local residents, gunshots can be heard amid a barrage of abuse. The video also purports to show the gunmen firing their weapons before escaping while one woman is seen lying on the ground as the local people scream in panic.

The incident has triggered a political slugfest in the national capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while condoling the deaths of the two women, asserted that if the AAP dispensation had control over the city's law-and-order system, Delhi would have been the safest place.

The Lt Governor has control over public order, land and police in the national capital.

BJP leader and Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi, on the other hand, said the incident was the fallout of personal enmity.

Sharing details about the incident, the police said they received a call around 4.40 am from the victims' brother Lalit about his sisters being shot at.

''Acting on the information, a police team reached the spot where it was found that two women were shot at and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, where they succumbed,'' said a senior police officer.

The victims have been identified as Pinky (30) and Jyoti (29).

Preliminary investigations revealed that the assailants were after the victims' brother Lalit and the motive seems to have been a monetary dispute, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Manoj C said.

''The prime accused and his two associates were arrested in connection with the incident,'' he added.

They have been identified as Arjun, Michael and Dev, the police said, adding they are involved in gambling and are history-sheeters.

Police said Dev had borrowed around Rs 10,000 from Lalit but refused to return it. Lalit even threatened him and so, the accused decided to ''teach him a lesson''.

According to police, on Saturday night, Lalit had gone to meet the accused to ask him to return the money borrowed from him earlier as a loan. But when the accused refused to return the amount, a fight broke out between them during which Lalit allegedly threatened the accused men and left the place.

The victim's family told police that in the early hours of Sunday, the accused along with his associates arrived at Lalit's house and started shouting, knocking on their door and even allegedly pelted stones but they did not open the door. They were around a group of more than six people and they also threatened to kill Lalit, police officials said.

After sometime, the alleged group left from there only to return with weapons and executed the crime.

A case has been registered and further investigation is underway.

Lal, another brother of the victims, said, ''My elder brother Lalit had given money to someone as a loan. On Saturday, when my brother asked them to return the money, an argument took place with the accused and a few others.'' Around 2 am on Sunday, when they were asleep, some people allegedly started shouting and knocking on the door of their residence, Lal said.

Fearing any untoward incident, Lal said he called their relatives, including his two sisters who lived in the same lane. But the people had left by then.

''Later, they returned with pistols. They had come to target my brother. Instead, my two sisters who rushed to rescue him were shot at by the accused… My sisters fell unconscious and the men escaped,'' he added.

The victim's family said the sisters and their children had come to Ambedkar Basti a few days ago to celebrate Lal's wedding anniversary.

Anita, Lalit's wife, said the accused men pulled her husband out and threatened to kill them but his sisters rushed in to rescue him.

''Pinky didi and Jyoti didi rushed to save Lalit and stood in front of him. The alleged men who were in anger started firing. One bullet hit Pinky didi while Jyoti didi received several bullet injuries. Both of them immediately fell unconscious. All this happened in front of their children. They are scared and inconsolable. The entire locality witnessed this horror. After killing them, the accused men escaped,'' she said.

The family alleged delay by police in responding to their calls. Police, however, denied these allegations and said they were on the spot within five minutes of being informed about the incident.

Attacking Lt Governor VK Saxena over the incident, Kejriwal said, ''Our thoughts are with the families of the two women. May their souls rest in peace. The people of Delhi have started feeling quite insecure. Those who are responsible for handling the law-and-order situation in Delhi are hatching a conspiracy to take control of the Delhi government instead of fixing the situation,'' Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

''Had the law-and-order situation been under the AAP dispensation instead of the L-G, Delhi would have been the safest,'' he added in a tweet in Hindi.

Other AAP leaders also echoed Kejriwal's sentiment.

Reacting to Kejriwal's comments, Lekhi told PTI, ''I want to remind the people of Delhi that this is the same Arvind Kejriwal whose MLAs were involved in (the) Delhi riots. They were involved in killing IB (Intelligence Bureau) officer Ankit. Gulel (catapults), guns (and) petrol bombs were supplied by these people. Can such people be given the responsibility of law and order?'' The Union Minister of State for Culture stressed that the RK Puram incident was the fallout of personal enmity and the government did not have any role in it.

She said, ''Wherever such an incident has happened, the role of the government is to register an FIR and take strict action against the accused and produce them in the court of law.

''The system of trial courts is under the Delhi government. So, whenever this case comes up in the court, in this case, the Saket court, you should ensure that the guilty are punished,'' the BJP MP from New Delhi said.

When asked about Kejriwal's allegations, Lekhi said, ''The person who does not understand the law is sitting as the chief minister. I am surprised at this.''