Moment of rage claimed 17-year-old’s life

Accused Shubham Gupta allegedly shot Simran after a confrontation outside her residence in Najafgarh

Seventeen-year-old Simran, who was shot dead inside a Mercedes car in south-west Delhi’s Najafgarh on Tuesday, lost her life in a moment on rage, the police said after interrogating accused Shubham Gupta on Saturday.

Situation escalated fast

Not many words are believed to have been exchanged during the brief, but ugly, quarrel that took place after two of Simran’s male friends learnt about each other that day. The short conversation, which was reportedly laced with innuendos, led Shubham to pull out a licensed revolver and shoot Simran in the chest.

Twenty-two-year-old Shubham was arrested near Select Citywalk Mall in Saket on Friday evening, three days after he went absconding. It took the police a while to identify him as he had got a new hairstyle and shaved his face.

Soon after, a police team led by DCP (South-West) Surender Kumar also arrested Shubham’s friend, Yogesh (32). The Mercedes and the licensed revolver belonged to Yogesh, who has been booked under the Arms Act for alleged negligent conduct with respect to the weapon, and for offering alcohol to Simran and Shubham despite them being below the legal drinking age of 25 years.

Case diary

Describing Tuesday’s sequence of events, Dependra Pathak, Joint CP (south-western range), said that Simran, Shubham and Yogesh had headed towards west Delhi around 2.30 p.m. “They were having drinks at a mall in Rajouri Garden when Simran’s mother began calling her to know where she was,” said Mr. Pathak. Simran reportedly told her that she was with Nitin. In fact, Shubham then spoke to her mother posing as Nitin.

Simran’s mother then called Nitin, who was known to Simran’s family, only to realise that she had lied. A puzzled Nitin, meanwhile, turned up at Simran’s residence.

Confrontation

Later that evening, when the trio was near Simran’s residence in Najafgarh, they were confronted by Nitin and her mother. “Shubham was miffed with Simran. He accused her of not revealing her friendship with Nitin. Shubham abused Nitin when he tried to intervene,” said Mr. Pathak.

Simran, too, tried to pacify Shubham but was abused was well. Simran, however, decided not to take it lying down. “When Simran responded in the same tone, he reached out for the pistol in the car and shot her in the chest,” said a senior investigator.

Accused went to Haridwar

Shubham escaped in the confusion that followed, the police said. He reached the Delhi Cantonment railway station and took a train to Haridwar. He returned to Delhi on Thursday.

On Saturday, Shubham and Yogesh were produced before a city court that sent them to three days in police custody.

Shubham’s mobile phone, which is with the police, reportedly has photographs and videos of the duo — some of which were taken just minutes before her death. In one video, Shubham is seen holding the revolver in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the another.