Delhi hospital firing victim was not the target, 2 held

The Delhi Police has arrested two people in connection with the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man inside a ward in the GTB Hospital, officials on Monday said.

Police nabbed Faiz (20) from Loni in Uttar Pradesh and Farhan from Chauhan Banger area in Delhi, but said they might not have fired the shots Sunday evening.

The shooters have been identified and the police are after them, the officials said.

They said Faiz and Farhan allegedly arranged a motorcycle for four accused who went to the hospital. The four reached the GTB Hospital on that motorcycle, the police said.

One of the four entered the ward number 24 and fired shots at the patient, killing him in the hospital bed.

"We are interrogating them (Faiz and Farhan) and will take their police remand to know about the one who shot the person (patient). Our teams are working round the clock to nab the rest of the accused. They will be nabbed soon," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said.

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 and was admitted in the same ward for some time -- but they shot dead Riyazuddin who was lying on the bed opposite to the one where the gangster was kept during his treatment.

Police also said the shooters had proper instructions on how they can escape from the hospital after committing the crime.

"On Sunday, the GTB Enclave police registered a case of murder on the statement of Tarranum Malik. She told police that her brother Riyazuddin was fired upon by an unknown person inside ward number 24 of the GTB Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment," DCP Choudhary said.

The officer further said that video footage from the cameras near the ward have been obtained.

The CCTV footage from cameras on the ground floor were also obtained which show four people entering the hospital emergency gate.

"Multiple teams were formed to investigate the case and to nab the accused. Teams identified the people in the footage based on inputs. Their social media handles were also obtained and their mobile numbers were checked. We checked the call details and some more suspects were identified," said the DCP.

Police said that after checking the call details, Faiz was arrested from Laxmi Garden area in Loni of Uttar Pradesh.

"During interrogation, Faiz revealed that one Faheem alias Badshah Khan is the mastermind of the incident. Faiz and his two brothers -- Faujaan and Moin Khan -- usually meet Faheem who is an associate of the Hasim Baba gang and works for the gang," said the DCP, adding that one more suspect Farhan (whose age is not yet known) was also nabbed from Chauhan Banger area.

During interrogation, they said that Faheem used to call all of them at his flat in Babarpur here.

"On the day of the incident, they were at Faheem's flat in Babarpur. Faheem instructed them to kill a person (other than the deceased) who was admitted in the same ward. Faiz and Farhan also disclosed that Faheem instructed them how to flee from the GTB Hospital after committing the firing," DCP Choudhary said.

The officer further said they were instructed to go to the GTB Hospital in the afternoon and shoot the target.

Further investigation is underway and efforts are on to nab other accused, said the DCP.

Sources in the police, meanwhile, explained how Riyazuddin was not the real target of the assailants.

"There was another patient Waseem (33) with a criminal history and was admitted to the ward who was shot four times in the Welcome area last month. Police of the northeast district had arrested three of the criminals out of four and one was on the run. In the present case, the shooter were there to kill Waseem, but they shot at Riyazuddin in a case of mistaken identity," a source said.

Another police officer said that during interrogation, the arrested accused told police that Faheem, who was planning to kill the man in the hospital, was preparing for this from last month.

"During the meeting at Faheem's flat in Babarpur, 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. We have also identified the shooters and teams are behind them. Though all the shooters have been identified, we are suspecting that two are juveniles. All the accused will be nabbed soon," said the police officer.

The officer further said the assailants took the normal entry to the hospital and reached the ward, where they shot Riyazuddin multiple times and fled.

"There are security guards at the hospital, but no one got the courage to nab the accused due to which they got a safe passage and fled from the hospital," he said. PTI BM