A 32-year-old chain snatcher allegedly shot himself dead on Monday afternoon after he shot at a constable who was trying to foil his snatching bid in Narela in Outer Delhi.
Giving the sequence of events that led to the alleged suicide, a senior police officer said around 1-30 p.m., the man -- later identified as Kuldeep, a known bad character of Narela police station – was spotted speeding away on a motorcycle with a chain he had snatched from one Umesh Gupta.
“ Three patrolling beat staff members, constables Satender, Kishore and Prabhat, tried to stop him but the accused ran away. They then alerted the beat staff to who tried to stop Kuldeep by bringing their motorcycle in front of Kuldeep’s but the accused left his motorcycle and started running on foot,” said the officer.
He added that Satender tried to catch Kuldeep by grabbing him by his collar but the latter took out a country made pistol and fired at him. The bullet hit the policeman on the neck. Satender’s colleague Prabhat rushed him to the nearby Raja Harish Chandra Hospital while Kishore kept on chasing the attacker.
“During the chase, Kuldeep fired a couple of rounds at Kishore who retaliated by firing a few rounds. He also kept on chasing the attacker for around 1 km until Kuldeep took refuge in a dilapidated building,” said the officer.
Staff members of other police stations of Outer District also reached the spot and surrounded the building.
“Cornered, Kuldeep fired at the policemen but as he did not find any options of running away, he kept the gun to his temple and fired a shot. He was then rushed to the nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead,” said the officer.
Later in the day, Satender was rushed to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh where he is battling for life, said the police.
The weapon used in the crime, a .32 bore, and the motorcycle, which was found stolen, have been seized. According to the police, Kuldeep had nine cases registered against him.
