Murder at Burger King | Victim spoke to a woman before he was shot dead; gangster Bhau claims he ordered hit: Police

The entire incident, which caused panic inside the eatery, was caught on CCTV.

According to police, the motive behind the murder appeared to be revenge by a rival gang.

Police said the woman had been roped in by the gang to lure Joon. “This is what Joon’s family told us. He and the woman had met three months ago and had been seeing each other regularly,” a police officer said.

“Joon’s kin said he had been involved with a local gang (Ashok Pradhan gang) in Haryana, but he had left those ways a long time ago. They said he had been living in Delhi for years now… They didn’t tell us what he was doing in Delhi though,” the officer said.

Though Joon wasn’t on police radar, the officer said, a gangster had already claimed responsibility for his murder through a post on his Instagram.

In the post uploaded soon after the murder, Himanshu Bhau, a 21-year-old gangster operating from Portugal, said Joon had a “hand in the assassination” of Bhau’s associate “Shakti Dada”. Bhau is on the most-wanted gangster list; his syndicate operates in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.

He had fled to Dubai using a forged passport and finally escaped to Portugal, police said. “Bhau has been running his gang from there. He has several sharpshooters on the ground here. His gang is the only one active in West Delhi these days,” the officer said.

The gangster’s claim only raised more questions. “His family has not come to claim the body yet…we will ask them for more details,” a police officer said.

Minutes leading up to the shooting

It was around 9.30 pm when the woman reached Burger King. “She was wearing an off-white kurta with a blue dupatta. She goes to the counter to order. Her face was captured by a CCTV camera right above the cash counter,” a police officer said.

“Around 15 minutes later, Joon arrived. They were talking when two more men in their 20s entered the joint. They looked like normal customers — one of them was wearing an orange T-shirt while the other was in a short white kurta. Their faces have been captured by CCTVs,” the police officer said. “They too went to the counter and ordered soft drinks. As soon as they reached their table, they took out pistols and fired 40 rounds at Joon. Luckily no one else was hit,” the officer added. “We suspect the woman too is a gang member.”

In a statement, DCP (West) Vichitra Veer said “multiple teams have been formed which are working on technical as well as manual intelligence to identity the assailants”.