A promising martial arts practitioner, one of the four persons injured in the Bhajanpura shooting incident of June 21, has suffered a blow to his career as both his legs have been amputated.
Sixteen-year-old Rajan Gupta, the son of property dealer Kailash Gupta who was gunned down by unidentified assailants at Bhajanpura Chowk last Tuesday, had received bullet injuries in both the legs in the incident. Doctors treating Rajan told the family that because of the injuries there was excessive blood loss and some tissues of his lower limbs were damaged, which left them with no option but to amputate the legs. The first leg was removed on Wednesday while the other was amputated two days later, said Rajan’s mother Sonam. He was admitted to Kashmere Gate Trauma Centre.
Blossoming champion
Rajan had appeared for his Class X board exam this year from St. Marks Public School in Harsh Vihar. Sonam said he was a champion in Tong-il-Moo-Do, a form of martial art, that he was training in at the school. “He had even won a championship (the 7{+t}{+h}Junior National Tong-il-Moo-Do championship) held in Ujjain in February this year,” said Sonam. For the mother it’s a third blow in a row as her elder son was murdered last year and her husband died in last week’s attack.
Rajan and Mr. Gupta had left home for some work early on Tuesday. Around 7.30 a.m., they stopped their motorcycle on the busy Bhajanpura Chowk to have fruit juice. Suddenly, a Swift Dzire car pulled up by their side. Before anyone could realise what was happening, two men rolled down the car window and opened fire at the father-son duo.
Narrow escape
The father was hit in his chest and he died on the spot. Prabhu Singh, an eyewitness said, Rajan too suffered a bullet injury, but ran for his life. “On finding my tea shop open, he barged in and begged to be saved,” said Singh. The assailants fired at the tea shop and the bullets hit Rajan and Ram Lakhan, an auto driver who was having tea at the kiosk.
A passerby, Banwari Lal, a security guard at an office in the area, was also hit by a bullet. Even as the assailants kept firing, some locals gathered at the spot, forcing the assailants to flee. As they sped, they ran over Javed, who suffered grievous wounds on his chest and abdomen.Almost a week after the shooting, the police are yet to make any arrest in the case.
