Shootout near Delhi's Nehru Place hotel, 1 arrested

NEW DELHI: Gunshots rang out outside Eros Hotel in Nehru Place on Sunday night when two criminals wanted in more than 30 cases opened fire at a police team that had intercepted them. Two cops were hit by bullets but were protected by their bulletproof jackets.

The criminals were part of a gang that had opened fire at a police team near Pul Prah ladpur in December and had stolen a scooter while fleeing.

After the encounter, one managed to escape while the other, Akbar, was arrested.Both were part of the "Satte" gang based in northeast Delhi and had come to south Delhi to meet their associate near Govindpuri. They were riding a white Enfield Bullet without a numberplate. A team led by ACP operations K P Singh and in spector Rajender Singh was formed to intercept them near Nehru Place on the basis of information received by the team. They followed them in a private car and intercepted them near Kalkaji Metro station," DCP southeast Romil Baaniya said.

When the police team signalled to Akbar to stop, he tried to speed off, but was blocked by a barricade near Nehru Place market. Police say that the second gang member, Asif, pulled



out two pistols and opened fire at the police team. When the cops tried to intervene, Asif and Akbar parked their motorcycle by the roadside and started running, intermittently firing at the cops. More than 8-10 rounds were fired by the two men. When the cops fired back, Akbar fell and was injured while Asif managed to run into a forested area and escape.

On sustained interrogation, Akbar said that his father was a UP Roadways driver and he had dropped out of school.He had taken to crime as a child. His younger sister was married to Asif who had introduced him to Satte. Akbar was arrested in 2013 for petty crimes. After his release from jail, he had started committing armed robberies in trans-Yamuna areas.

On December 1, he and with his associates were near Pul Prahladpur when they were intercepted by police.They opened fire on the police team and an encounter took place. Akbar's associates Manish, Sunil, Goverdhan, Vishvakarma and Krishan were arrested but he, along with Asif and Mukarram, managed to escape after firing at the cops, after which a cash reward of Rs 25,000 was declared on each.