Gurgaon road turns into battle zone
Sumedha Sharma
Tribune News Service
Gurgaon, July 15
In a case of alleged gang rivalry, one person was killed and another injured when gunmen opened fired at an SUV at MG Road here today. The police said it was a case of gang war and declared an award of Rs50,000 for leads in the case.
The dead was identified as Kapil Dang, an auto-rickshaw driver and the injured was a member of a gang.
The incident took place around 9.15 am, when a white SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe), carrying gangster Rakesh Hayatpur (35), was headed to IFFCO Chowk on the MG road. Rakesh, who faces several cases of henious crime, was on his way to attend a hearing in the district courts.
On nearing the pillar number 117, a black Santro car with an Uttar Pradesh registration number came from behind and pushed an auto-rickshaw in front of Rakesh’s SUVmaking it slow down. The SUV veered onto the divider, as its driver lost control of the vehicle.
Then, five shooters came out of Santro and fired at the SUV. Rakesh jumped out of his SUV and rushed to Times Tower building across the road and called the police.
The SUV driver suffered bullet injuries. Later, the SUV landed on the auto-rickshaw after hitting another car on the other side of the road. The auto-rickshaw was flattened and its driver standing nearby died after a bullet hit him. The SUV driver is under treatment and is said to be critical.
The two bodyguards of Rakesh, who were in the SUV, had a narrow escape as the vehicle’s safety balloons shielded them.
The police said Rakesh named two persons, with whom he had developed differences recently, responsible for today’s attack. A case against unidentified assailants had been registered, they said. Sources said the police were interrogating a man, who said Rakesh had been threatening him. The man was arrested two days back with a gun.
The police are also trying to find out if the attack had any link with an incident in the district’s Hayatpur village in 2008, when Rakesh and his shooter had allegedly shot the-then sarpanch. In retaliation, supporters of the sarpanch and other villagers had set one of his shooters on fire. “The accused will be arrested soon. The police are looking into matters in which Rakesh is involved and his possible enmities,” said Navdeep Singh Virk, Police Commissioner, Gurgaon.
The shootout, meanwhile, brought the traffic to a standstill as thousands of commuters were left stranded at several points as the MG road and IFFCO Chowk were blocked for three hours.
