The 17-year-old girl who was allegedly shot dead by her friend Shubham in Najafgarh had spotted the pistol in the car while on her way home and enquired about it. Little did she know that the same weapon would be used to end her life a few hours later.
While the police are yet to establish whether the murder was a planned act or due to sudden provocation, Yogesh — Shubham’s friend and the owner of the car and the pistol — disclosed that she had been curious about the weapon but he had managed to silence her.
History of weapon
There was an attempt on Yogesh’s life a few years ago and self-defence was the ground he had provided to obtain the licence for a 0.315 bore pistol. As a matter of practice, he kept the weapon in his vehicle, a C-320 Mercedes, said the police.
It is learnt that Shubham was aware about this fact, and has led the police to also probe the conspiracy angle.
“Yogesh says he keeps the weapon and a tissue box behind the handbrake. Both the items are visible to anyone sitting in the rear passenger seat. As Shubham was grabbing a tissue from the box, the weapon caught the girl’s eye and she asked about it. Yogesh warned her against probing much, and she obliged,” said a senior police officer.
Yogesh further claimed that he was not with the duo for most of the time during their outing,
“He claims that they went to a bar in Rajouri to consume alcohol but his choice of liquor, a premium aged scotch, was something Shubham expressed his inability to afford and hence walked to another table to drink beer. From there they went to Dwarka, where they split up. Yogesh stayed back in the car, while the other two spent nearly an hour at the mall shopping,” said the officer.
Yogesh, however, said “he rushed the girl to the hospital, made himself available for questioning and handed over the weapon and the vehicle when asked”.
Family in fear
Meanwhile, the girl’s family members have expressed fear for their lives. Talking to The Hindu , her father said the accused and his friends came from influential families and could harm his wife and son if they pursued the case against them.
Recalling the incidents on Tuesday night, the girl’s father said he was in Rajasthan when his wife called him to inform about the incident.
“I was told that my daughter had met an accident. When I rushed to the hospital and came to know the truth, I fell unconscious,” said her father.
