The Embassy of Paraguay in Vasant Vihar. (Source: Express photo by Ajnavi Tarannum )
Unidentified men opened fire outside a locality housing foreign nationals in South Delhi’s Vasant Vihar on Sunday morning. No one was hurt in the incident, police said. While central intelligence agencies and Delhi Police are probing the incident, preliminary investigations have ruled out the possibility of a terror attack.
Police said the men fired in the air and that the gun used to fire is used for training purposes and cannot physically hurt anyone. The gun used by the men only releases light and sound and not projectiles or bullets, sources said. The incident was reported at 1.45 am outside B 10-B 11, Vasant Vihar, opposite Delhi Public School. The locality houses foreign nationals and local residents working at various embassies. The premises also house the Embassy of Paraguay.
According to sources in the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Praveen, a guard at B 11, ran outside after hearing a gunshot and saw men in an SUV open fire in the air and leave. Praveen immediately informed the Vasant Vihar police station following which a team reached the spot. Investigators recovered an empty cartridge from the spot.
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The Special Cell and central intelligence agencies are probing the incident as it took place in a “sensitive” locality. Baraf Singh, a private security guard at B 10, told Newsline that two Israeli families used to live on the first and second floor, but they vacated the premises on June 10 this year. The ground floor is occupied by an Indian, who residents said was presently out of town.
Sources said several wedding ceremonies had taken place in the area on Saturday night and investigators were examining the possibility that the miscreants were inebriated while returning from a wedding. Israel embassy spokesperson Ohad Horsandi said, “Last night, an incident of firing was reported in the neighbourhood where foreign diplomats reside. Every detail is being taken care of by the Delhi Police. I will not comment any further. We have full faith and confidence in Delhi Police’s probe. All questions may be directed to them.”
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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The Embassy of Paraguay in Vasant Vihar. (Source: Express photo by Ajnavi Tarannum )
