‘They shot him in the middle of the market’: Delhi teen fighting for life after attack
The victim was with a female friend at Amar Colony market when he got into an argument with a group over them ‘staring’ at the girl. One of them allegedly pulled out a gun and shot him.
The spot in Delhi's Amar Colony Market where a 17-year-old boy was shot at on Tuesday evening. (Express Photo) “Going out for an evening snack with friends, and will go to chacha’s (paternal uncle) house” — that’s what a 17-year-old boy told his parents on Tuesday evening before he left his home in South Delhi’s Chhattarpur.
About six hours later, the boy’s grandmother got a call from his friend. The teenager had been shot at by three boys in front of an eatery in Amar Colony market.
“He was with a girl, a classmate of his… They shot him in the middle of the Market. He is just a child,” said his uncle, standing outside the AIIMS Trauma Centre where the teen is fighting for his life.
“Doctors said the bullet touched a critical part of his brain…,” he added.
The teen, the only child of his parents, is a Class XII student at a school in South Delhi.
According to police, the incident took place around 7 pm. The 17-year-old boy was sitting outside the eatery with a girl when an argument broke out between him and three others, including a 16-year-old.
The three were returning from Faridabad in a car and had stopped at the market for a bite to eat. While they were standing outside the shop, the victim questioned them for staring at the girl.
According to police sources, this quickly escalated into violence — the 16-year-old allegedly pulled out a pistol and shot the victim in the head.
On Wednesday, police apprehended the juvenile while a search is on for the other two accused.
The victim’s father, who runs a laundry shop in Chhattarpur, said they received a call around 8 pm from a friend of his son, who initially claimed he had been in an accident.
“We rushed to Moolchand Hospital and found out that he had been shot. The classmate he was with brought him to the hospital and told his friends, who called us. They said that some boys in Amar Colony passed a comment about the girl, and when my son protested, they came back and shot him,” the father claimed.
His uncle added, “I am in the Navy and was posted in Andaman. I came back to the city recently… my nephew wanted to spend some time with me, so he was coming to my home.”
At the market on Wednesday, shopkeepers and residents are still in shock over the crime.
Jageshwar Pandit said he was attending to customers at his cigarette shop, which he had been running for the past 20 years, when he heard a gunshot.
It came from just behind his shop, where a small makeshift kitchen operates in a compound.
“I turned back and saw three men running and a boy lying on the ground… I couldn’t believe it was a gunshot until people told me. In two decades, I have never seen anything like this,” Pandit said.
Police examined footage from nearby buildings, including A6 — adjacent to the crime scene — to track the accused.
A resident of the building said, “It was right in front of my house. My family was there, though I was not at home. It was still daylight when it happened.”
Police said the 16-year-old was allegedly involved in a firing incident in Delhi last year. “During questioning, he claimed he got angry when the victim confronted him. So he shot him,” a police officer said.
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