Former MLA was drunk while shooting during New Year celebrations: Police

Former Bihar legislator Raju Singh was questioned for close to 10 hours on Friday and confessed to being under the influence of liquor during the celebratory-firing incident that killed a woman, sources said. Sources said Raju Singh was initially not cooperating and was claiming that he did not fire any bullets during the New Year's Eve party at his farmhouse in south Delhi.

The former Janata Dal (United) MLA said he had fled from the spot out of fear, but later admitted that he had fired shots from a rifle and pistol. Raju Singh told police that he was drunk and, around midnight when the countdown began, he first fired from a pistol, then a rifle and the pistol again, the bullet of which hit 42-year-old architect Archana Gupta in the head. Police said the bloodstained clothes of the accused's driver, Hari Singh, are yet to be recovered.

The former lawmaker told police that the clothes were dumped somewhere in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, the place from where he was detained along with his driver and later arrested. He will be taken to Kushinagar in a day or two to find where he had dumped the clothes and search some of the empty cartridges that he had taken while fleeing from the farmhouse, sources said. Raju Singh had plans to flee to his village in Bihar, but was nabbed before he could do so, the sources added.

Archana's husband had said they were at the farmhouse on Monday night to celebrate the New Year. Around midnight, two-three rounds were fired by Raju Singh. Immediately, he noticed that his wife had fallen down and was bleeding. She succumbed to injuries on Thursday. Raju Singh was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act, police said, adding that he had five other cases registered against him. The police have added IPC Section 302, which pertains to punishment for murder, and punishable with a maximum term of life imprisonment or death sentence.

(With inputs from agencies.)