Two gunned down in Gurgaon

GURGAON, November 26: A 23-year old man, Amit Kumar Wahi and his father-in-law, Anoop Kumar Bhatia 48, were shot dead by some unidentified...

GURGAON, November 26: A 23-year old man, Amit Kumar Wahi and his father-in-law, Anoop Kumar Bhatia 48, were shot dead by some unidentified assailants in Sector 81 last night. The family members of the deceased have alleged that two persons, Ravi Sharma and his son, Saurabh, were behind these killings because of an old enmity.

The killings took place at around 8.40 p.m. when Wahi and Bhatia were driving back home from the Sector 81 market. The two had gone to the market to get a TV set repaired. Wahi was driving the car, a Maruti Zen DL-6CE-3643, while his father-in-law was sitting beside him. As they turned into the street leading to their house, which was barely 100 metres from the market, the assailants, who were probably tailing them, fired shots from close range through the closed car windows. The car slammed into an electricity pole before coming to a halt. The impact led to short-circuiting of power lines in the area.

A shopkeeper in the Sector 81 market told Express Newsline: 8220;I heard gunshots at around 8.40 p.m. followed by a loud bang. I ran in the direction of the noise and saw this red car with broken windows and a massive dent on the front bumper. Initially, everyone assumed that it was just an accident.8221;Both Wahi and Bhatia succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital.

The police are investigating the involvement of Ravi Sharma and Saurabh in the killings. 8220;Either they themselves killed the duo or hired killers to eliminate them,8221; said an officer. The police suspects that at least two different firearms, a country made pistol and a revolver, were used to kill Wahi and Bhatia as the bullets recovered from their bodies are of different make.

Wahi married Bhatia8217;s daughter Ekta on June 18 this year. Four year ago, when Ekta was a student of class 12 at St Thomas School, Ravi Sharma and Saurabh allegedly abducted her. Bhatia8217;s family at that time lived at Rana Pratap Bagh in New Delhi and a case against Sharma and Saurabh was registered at the Model Town police station. The girl was recovered after a month and Sharma and Saurabh were arrested and jailed for abducting her.

Bhatia married her off to Wahi, who lived in Geetanjali Apartments, Shanti Vihar, New Delhi.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Bhatia, along with his wife, Meena, and mother, Promila, shifted to Sector 81 in Gurgaon. According to Bhatia8217;s mother, Ravi Sharma and Saurabh started making threatening calls to her son and allegedly asked him to hand Ekta over to them.

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In her statement to the police, Promila Bhatia has accused Ravi Sharma and Saurabh of being involved in the killings.