Out on bail for rape, Delhi man shoots survivor, arrested

Safi was granted interim bail last month.

A police control room call was received at around 9.49 pm on Wednesday about a gunshot near the Poorvi Marg area in Vasant Vihar. When the police rushed to the spot and found an auto-rickshaw, its driver, Ranjeet Yadav, informed the police that a female passenger had been shot and had been taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre by PCR personnel.

At the hospital, the woman was identified as a Safdarjung resident. “The victim, found conscious and medically fit, stated that while she was travelling in the auto and speaking on the phone, two persons on a black motorcycle approached from behind. One of them, Abuzair Safi, who was driving, fired a shot that struck her in the breast,” Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West, said.

Based on her statement, a case was registered at Vasant Vihar police station under sections 109(1) (attempted murder) and 3(5) (common intent) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sections of the Arms Act.

Through intensive technical surveillance, CCTV footage analysis, and local intelligence inputs, the police identified the accused. Sukhla was arrested on Thursday, and the motorcycle used in the crime was recovered from his possession, the police claimed. A day later, Safi was traced and arrested, the police said, adding that the weapon used in the attack, a country-made pistol, was also recovered.

Police officials confirmed that Safi is the same person who was named in a rape case filed by the victim in 2024. He had been granted interim bail in that case when he allegedly launched this second attack on the woman. The police are probing the possible connection between the two cases and exploring whether there was any larger conspiracy involved.