NEW DELHI: Throwing a challenge to police’s efforts to target their ecosystem, shooters opened fire at a gym in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar and outside a businessman’s house in east Delhi’s West Vinod Nagar. The shootings, which happened in the span of an hour, were both allegedly carried out by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, said police.In the first incident, two motorcycle-borne men fired twice in the air outside RK Fitness on Outer Ring Road in Paschim Vihar around 11pm on Monday. Police said no one was injured in the firing.
A social media post, purportedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility. In the post, Randeep Malik claimed he carried out the firing along with Anil Pandit, who is allegedly based in the United States.The post also directly named the gym and its owner, Rohit Khatri, and issued explicit threats, warning that if calls continued to be ignored, he could meet a fate similar to gangster-turned-businessman Nadir Shah, who was gunned down outside a gym in Greater Kailash-I in Sept 2024.
It listed several gangs, including Jitender Gogi, Hashim Baba and Kala Rana, asserting allegiance to Lawrence Bishnoi.Speaking to TOI, an employee at the gym said: “About one and a half months ago, I received a call from some persons threatening that they would kill us if we didn’t talk to them. At the time, I thought it was a prank call, so I did not take it seriously.”An FIR has been registered at Paschim Vihar East police station under the relevant BNS sections.An hour after the first incident, firing was reported from West Vinod Nagar in east Delhi.
Police said around 12.03am, two bike-borne men, wearing helmets, fired three to four rounds in the air outside the residence of a local businessman, Jitender Gupta.Police were alerted to the incident by a caller, who noticed the biker allegedly making a video of the house, after which the pillion rider fired in the air and both fled. Crime and FSL teams reached and inspected the spot, but no cartridge or bullet was recovered. Two sentries equipped with heavy firearms were deployed to provide security to the caller, police said.Cops said the firing appears linked to an earlier extortion threat.
In Sept last year, Gupta lodged a complaint stating that he received a WhatsApp audio call from an international number, during which the caller introduced himself as a member of the Bishnoi gang and demanded Rs 5 crore, threatening dire consequences if the demand was not met.Police said they are probing all angles in both the incidents, including links to extortion and organised crime, while efforts are underway to identify the shooters and trace the social media accounts involved.
