A 40-year-old man and his teenage nephew were shot dead while his 10-year-old son suffered injuries after two armed men opened fire outside their home during Diwali celebrations in northeast Delhi's Shahdara on Thursday, police said.
The victims, Akash Sharma, his nephew Rishabh Sharma and son Krish Sharma were celebrating Diwali when they were attacked around 8 pm.
According to the family and eyewitnesses, the men came on a scooter and touched Akash's feet, before they opened fire on him and the others.
A video of the incident shows Akash and Rishabh, both wearing yellow kurtas, preparing to burst firecrackers when the accused reached the spot on their scooter.
As Akash attempted to move inside his house, one of the accused got off the scooter and shot him. Akash's nephew Rishabh was also shot when he ran behind the accused to stop them.
The three were rushed to a hospital where Akash and Rishabh were declared dead while Krish was undergoing treatment. "On receiving a PCR call at about 8:30 pm, a police team was dispatched. The team found blood at the spot," police said.
Akash's wife said she knew the attackers, adding that there had been a dispute between them over land for many years.
His brother Yogesh claimed that their family was falsely implicated last month after the accused fired shots at their own house but filed a case against them. He further said that the police deleted the footage of the incident from their phones and instead accused them of getting into fights.
"Around 8.30 pm, we received a PCR call informing that there had been firing in the Bihari Colony and some people were injured. Upon reaching the spot, it was known that Akash, his nephew Rishabh and his son Krish were shot. Akash and Rishabh have lost their lives. In the preliminary investigation, we have found that five rounds of bullets were fired," DCP Shahdara Prashant Gautam told news agency ANI.
Police suspected that the case seemed to be of personal enmity.
Statements of the victims' family members will be recorded, and further investigations are on, they added.
