Man shot after argument over card game, 7 arrested

Accused killed him after he started winning, say police

A 45-year-old man was allegedly shot dead by seven persons in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh in the early hours of Thursday after an argument while playing cards, the police said. The accused have been arrested, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Monika Bhardwaj said that the deceased has been identified as Harish Sharma, who lived in JJ Colony in Madipur. The arrested accused have been identified as Raju Bhilwari, Ram alias Ravi, Rajesh alias Raj, Jitender Kumar alias Jitu, Harikant, Kuldeep, and Ramesh Kapoor.

All the accused but Jitender are residents of the same area as the victim.

The police said that the victim was playing cards with the accused in a factory near his house when an argument broke out.

“During interrogation, the accused said that a fight broke out between them and the victim after he started winning. He was then shot in the shoulder,” Ms. Bhardwaj said.

The victim’s family said that he had left the house after Diwali celebrations around 9.30 p.m. He burst crackers with a few neighbours outside the house.

“He then met some people in a park who took him to a nearby factory. My uncle never used to drink or gamble. We told the police about the persons who killed him,” said Harish’s 20-year-old niece Ginni.

Body was dumped

The police said that Raju and Rajesh dumped Harish’s body in a service lane near Maharaja Agrasen Hospital. A passer-by later spotted the body and called the police around 3.30 a.m.

“My aunt kept calling him [Harish] but her calls went unanswered for hours. The phone was finally picked up by a police officer who informed us about the incident,” the niece also said.

The police said that a case on charges of murder, causing disappearance of evidence and common intention has been registered.