Insurance company employee shot dead

Two motorbike-borne assailants committed crime, fled spot, say locals; family rules out personal enmity

Usha Gupta.

A 59-year-old employee of an insurance company was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants on Saturday morning in east Delhi’s Madhu Vihar, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Jasmeet Singh said Usha Gupta from Radhey Shyam Park Extension worked as assistant manager at New India Insurance Company. A murder case has been registered and teams are probing all angles, including personal enmity, he said.

Usha and her husband Kailash Kumar Gupta, a retired MTNL employee, had left the house at 6.30 a.m. for his dialysis at Max Hospital in Vaishali, said victim’s nephew Pawan Bansal. “They stopped at a temple in Madhu Vihar. My aunt, who was driving the car, parked it outside the temple and waited inside the vehicle while my uncle went inside,” he said.

When Mr. Kailash returned after 10 minutes, he saw that his wife had received a bullet injury near her right ear and the glass on the driver’s side was broken. “A few locals told my uncle that two motorbike-borne persons had shot at her and fled off,” he said, adding that the accused did not take any belongings.

Next, Mr. Kailash called the police and other family members after which she was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead. Usha’s family members, neighbours and colleagues said they are clueless about who could have committed the crime because she had no enmity with anyone. Her son Sanyam said his family did not have problems with anyone.

The victim’s colleague, Vandana Dixit, said Usha was very helpful. “Two days ago, a payment of ₹3.5 lakh was made to a person, whose file had been in process for years and only Usha

ji made it possible. She used to be personally invested in helping people,” Ms. Dixit said.

The family was also preparing for the first birthday of Usha’s granddaughter on October 2. Her son-in-law Ankit Aggarwal said that Usha was very excited.

At the temple, a caretaker who identified herself as Sangeeta said Usha and her husband used to come there every Saturday at the same time and would also park the vehicle at the same place.

Probe so far

Mr. Singh said there are no conclusive leads in the case so far and that the CCTV obtained from the spot doesn’t clearly show anything. “All the family members, neigbhbours and colleagues will be questioned to ascertain the motive and identify the accused,” he said. Mr. Ankit said the murder could be a case of mistaken identity or something in connection with her work.