Masked men shoot at biker

Almost two weeks after a 50-year-old woman from Manipur nabbed a chain snatcher, her son was shot at near south-east Delhi’s Nizamuddin on Friday.

Terming the attack on her son as revenge, Khula Laimayum Sahani claimed that the chain snatcher she helped nab on June 28 operates with a large network and the attackers might well be a part of the same ring.

Khula had been similarly targeted in east Delhi’s Madhu Vihar last week, but had fought back and even succeeded in chasing down the culprits and getting one of them arrested. On Friday, Khula’s 27-year-old son Ricky was attacked when he was on way to a gym in Saket, where he works as a physical instructor.

Patparganj resident Ricky is a Mixed Martial Arts professional and has taken part in several national and international events. His father Avtar Singh Sahani is a renowned TV and theater personality.

“Around 7 am, Ricky was heading towards Select Citywalk in Saket on his motorcycle when two masked men on another two-wheeler intercepted his vehicle and attempted to rob him,” said a police officer. Ricky told police that the assailants fired two shots when he tried to escape.

While one of these was a misfire, the second pierced his right thigh. Police rushed him to Saket City Hospital, where he was admitted in a wounded but stable condition.

In his statement to police, Ricky said the assailants wore masks and had also rubbed mud on the number plate of their motorcycle.

Ricky’s family friend and colleague of his mother Linda Newmay while talking to Deccan Herald, said the family firmly believes that the latest attack was a response to what Khula had done to them last month.

“Ricky thinks that the attackers were following him for quite some time. What other explanation is there for the fact that they knew the exact time when he would pass Sarai Kale Khan?”

said Linda, who is also a member of the  Bharatiya Janata Party’s north-wast wing in Delhi. She also added that Khula like herself is an activist for northeastern people and attached with the BJP.

Khula told police that one of the snatchers had threatened her that the episode was not over even as he fled while she overpowered his colleague and later handed him over to police. “We have registered a case of robbery and are investigating the case from all plausible angles,” said P Karunakaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (South East).

In a similar incident, Kim Grace, who also hails from Manipur, was targeted by armed motorcyclists near Batra Theatre in north-west Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar on Thursday. Police said they had registered a case of robbery.