New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Delhi Police on Tuesday said a rival of jailed gangster Hashim Baba was the original target of the attackers who killed a patient at the GTB Hospital here two days ago.
According to a police officer, the accused had gone to kill Waseem (33), who is facing multiple criminal cases and had threatened the jailed criminal over gang rivalry a few months ago.
Faheem, who is a close associate of Hashim Baba, hatched the murder plan and trained the other accused on how they could enter the hospital and exit after the crime.
The accused, who are suspected to be the members of Hashim Baba’s gang, had entered the hospital on Sunday and killed 32-year-old Riyazuddin over mistaken identity, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said multiple raids are being conducted across Delhi to nab the culprits.
“As of now we have arrested two men, but five people are still at large. Teams have conducted raids in Loni, Okhala, Babarpur, Chauhan Banger and many other places in Delhi’s Northeast district to arrest them,” Choudhary said.
The police on Monday nabbed two accused — Faiz (20) from Loni in Uttar Pradesh and Farhan from Delhi’s Chauhan Banger area — but said they did not fire the shots on Sunday evening, but provided logistic support to the main accused.
“The attackers had gone to the hospital to kill a gangster — a rival of the Hasim Baba gang who was also shot at by some people on June 12,” said the DCP.
Another police officer said interrogation of the arrested accused revealed that the gangster Waseem, who was out on bail, had threatened Hashim Baba to kill him a few months ago.
“Faheem, who is a close associate of Hashim Baba, hatched a plan to kill Waseem last month and started calling the other accused to his flat in Babarpur area,” said the police officer.
The probe has also revealed that Waseem is a “bad character” of Shastri Park area and had began forming a gang.
On Sunday, one of the four accused entered the Ward number 24 and fired shots at Riyazuddin, leaving him dead on the hospital bed.
Waseem was getting treatment in the same ward and was on the bed opposite to the one where Riyazuddin was present.
“Multiple teams are working round the clock to nab the accused and we got important leads about their whereabouts. They will be nabbed soon. We are suspecting that one who fired the bullets could be a juvenile,” DCP Choudhary said.
Investigation also revealed that Faheem was giving training to the accused on how they could enter the hospital and exit after the crime.
“Faheem used to show maps related to the hospital entry and exit. We also got to know that the shooters before committing the crime did reconnaissance of the hospital,” the DCP said.
Hashim Baba, whose real name is Ashim, is facing 16 criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder and dacoity, the police said.
He was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in 2019 and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He has been lodged in Tihar Jail since then, according to a Delhi Police dossier. PTI BM RPA
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