New Delhi: The fragile peace of outer north Delhi’s Bawana was shattered Saturday morning when a hail of gunfire claimed the life of a 45-year-old man, marking an escalation in an ongoing cross-continental gang war.Around 8.15am, three men on a bike intercepted Joginder aka Kala and fired multiple rounds at him before speeding away. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead. By noon, a social media post from the Himanshu Bhau gang surfaced, claiming responsibility for the killing. The post was made by Bhau’s henchman, gangster Vicky Hadal alias Poothiya, and his associate Daku Kulasiya, who called it “righteous retribution”.They claimed that Joginder had a direct hand in the murder of their close associate, Keshav Dabas, and warned that others involved in Dabas’ death would soon meet a similar end.Hadal is currently orchestrating his operations from Portugal, while Himanshu Bhau, is believed to be in the US.A relative of Joginder said he was killed when he was going to work at a water plant around 8.15am, a relative said. “There were three people on a motorcycle waiting near a corner. As soon as they saw Joginder, they got off the bike and started firing at him,” she said, claiming that members of Hadal’s family killed him.Preliminary investigation has revealed that the murder was not an isolated incident but the fourth chapter in a macabre feud that has gripped the locality, driven by ruthless international syndicates and a long-standing dispute over a coveted plot of land. The entry of the Himanshu Bhau gang into a hyper-local land dispute has poured fuel on a simmering fire, said sources.Investigators reveal that the feud earlier claimed three lives, all believed to be part of a revenge cycle triggered by the earlier murders of Hadal’s family members. Local cops also said Joginder’s brother, Dharmender, might have been the actual target.Joginder’s relatives said they had previously approached the local police with desperate pleas for protection and given CCTV footage alleging recce. A relative claimed that the family had received threats, and a few days ago, some youths had conducted a recce of the area and even recorded a video.Another relative alleged that the family had filed a complaint with police in Dec last year over threats. He claimed that two days before the murder, they again approached the station house officer after learning that a youth was making inquiries about their family members in the locality. “Just two days after we met police, Joginder was murdered,” the relative rued.Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar has issued stern directives to crack the case at the earliest. Massive manhunts and intelligence sweeps are underway to apprehend the local shooters who have allegedly executed the transnational hit.
