Rajouri murder suspect ‘spotted’ at railway station

Nearly a week after a 26-year-old man was shot dead inside a Burger King outlet on the main road in Rajouri Garden, the Delhi Police on Sunday said it has formed several teams to look for the woman who allegedly “trapped” the victim Amit Joon to visit the restaurant, where he was shot around 40 times. The incident happened on June 18.

According to police, the woman, identified as Anu (single name), who is her 20s, spoke to a person on a US-based number, her call detail records revealed. “She spoke on a number that has been traced to California. The WhatsApp call was made around 6pm, about three and a half hours before the incident,” said an inspector-rank officer aware of the case. Fugitive gangster Himanshu Bhau had claimed responsibility for Joon’s murder. Bhau is based in the US.

While looking for her, investigators found a CCTV footage from Katra where Anu was seen taking a Mumbai-bound train on June 20 around 10am. She is suspected to have deboarded in Gujarat. “The Delhi Police is in touch with Katra and Gujarat police for any leads on the woman. In the footage, she was seen wearing a neon green t-shirt paired with black bottoms and covering her head with a scarf. She was carrying a sea green backpack and a blue trolley bag,” an officer said.

Investigators said that Anu began speaking to Joon on June 11, befriended him, and met him at least twice in the following eight days. She asked to meet him at the restaurant on the evening of the incident.

Police said Anu is a psychology graduate who fled her home in Rohtak in January. Her family had filed a missing complaint in the matter. She came to Delhi and started living in a paying guest accommodation in Mukherjee Nagar. On June 18, she took the Metro from west Delhi to her PG accommodation, which she immediately vacated, saying there was a family emergency, police said.

Joon’s family said they were not aware of the woman’s presence in his life and did not question him coming to Delhi from his residence in Chhochi village, Haryana, as he often came to the state on business visits.

On June 18, at least three men, including the two who shot Joon, were seen waiting outside the eatery. The two who shot the victim were identified as Ashish and Vicky Rindhana.

CCTV footage revealed that after Joon came and sat across Anu, she took his phone. The three men entered, one of them pointed to Joon and left. The two others, Ashish and Vicky, placed the order, sat behind Joon, and began shooting. The woman left with Joon’s phone. Investigation revealed that Anu was associated with the Bhau gang, and was tasked to trap Joon.

They said that on June 18, Joon first left home for Delhi around 6am but returned shortly after saying that he would leave in the evening. They were later informed by investigators that the woman had first called him in the morning but later changed plans and called him in the evening instead.

The Bhau gang has said that Joon’s murder was a revenge ploy for the killing of one Shakti Singh allegedly by members of the Ashok Pradhan gang in Chhochi village, in October 2020. Singh was the nephew of former Najafgarh MLA Rambir Shokeen who is gangster Neeraj Bawana’s cousin. Police have also taken Bawana and gangster Naveen Bali on custody remand to interrogate them about the murder.

Gangsters believed that Joon had shared details of Singh’s presence in the area with members of the Pradhan gang as the two families were neighbours. However, Joon’s brother Deepak said that he was not involved in any murder, had no criminal history.