4 min readNew DelhiSep 14, 2024 11:16 AM IST
First published on: Sep 14, 2024 at 04:36 AM IST
Four people were arrested Friday after a 35-year-old gym owner, an Afghan native, was shot at five times in front of his gym at Greater Kailash-1 in Delhi late Thursday. Probe so far point towards the involvement of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in the murder over an alleged extortion bid on a city-based businessman, police sources said.
The victim, Nadir Shah, was rushed to Max Hospital in Saket after he was shot at but was declared dead, police said. His body was later shifted to AIIMS for a post-mortem. “The incident took place at10.44 pm (on Thursday) when an assistant sub-inspector, posted with the New Delhi Range of Special Cell, came to meet Shah in his gym with some specific information about a gangster,” a senior police officer said.
Initial probe has revealed that the conspiracy was allegedly hatched by Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently operating from the US and Rohit Godara, who is based in the UK. In his purported Facebook post hours after the shooting, Godara claimed responsibility for the killing.
“Jo humaare bhai Tihar mein hai, Samir Baba bhai, ka message aaya tha ki vah humaare dushmano se milke humaare saare kaam-dhandho mein archan kar rahe hai. Isiliye humne marwaya hai. (My brother in Tihar, Samir Baba, sent a message saying that he (Nadir) is collaborating with our enemies and putting hindrances in our business. That’s why we’ve killed him),” Godara posted on Friday morning. He warned that anyone who goes against him and his associates would meet the same end.
The CCTV camera footage outside the gym showed Shah talking to another person when the attackers walked up to him, showering bullets the entire time. While the person Shah was talking to fled, the assailant remained there and shot Shah a few more times while he lay on the ground.
According to the police, he then fled on a bike on which his associate was waiting. “Within some seconds after hearing gunshots, Delhi Police personnel immediately came out and took him to a hospital,” the officer said. Notably, Shah has cases booked under the Arms Act and for extortion and gambling in the past, said police.
According to sources, Shah was a close associate of a businessman who runs several call centres in Delhi. “A few weeks ago, Lawrence Bishnoi allegedly demanded around Rs 25 crore from him. After receiving the extortion demand, the businessman approached Shah, who with the help of his contacts, tried to negotiate the extortion amount. It came to fore that the amount was not paid to Lawrence,” a source said.
“In the meantime, Lawrence found that Shah was helping his rival, Rohit Chaudhary — a South-Delhi based gangster, for investing his black money. The police have also found that the businessman had gifted a car worth around Rs 1 crore to Shah a few days ago on his birthday,” the source said, adding “Lawrence has close association with jailed gangster Hashim Baba alias Samir Baba, who has a rivalry with Chaudhary”.
The four arrested, identified as Uttar Pradesh natives Akash Yadav, Nitalesh Tiwari (20) and Vishal Verma (19), and Naveen Baliyan (33) from Sonipat, were involved in recce and arranging the weapon of crime, police said. However, the shooters remain at large, police said.
According to sources, Nadir Shah was a close associate of a businessman who runs several call centres in Delhi. (File Photo) 
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