June 19, 2024
In the early morning hours in Ambedkar Basti, located near R K Puram in South Delhi, two women were shot by a group of assailants in front of their family and neighbors. The women stood in front of a gunpoint to protect their brother from the assailants who had come to take revenge over a monetary issue.
The Victims
The deceased, who were identified by Police, were Pinky, 30 and Jyoti, 29. They were a part of the six sibling family. Pinky lived with her spouse and two children in Munirka, whereas Jyoti lived separately from her husband with her two children at their brother’s home, Lalit and Lala, at the Ambedkar Basti.
The Course of Events
Around 3:20 A.M. the morning of June 18th, 2024. Dev (whose relation with the victim is still not known) along with a mob of 8-10 Men came with rods and sticks outside Lalit’s house, at that point both the sisters were living there. After banging the door for 10 minutes the mob retreated only to return roughly after an hour with more number of people, weapon, and firearms.
As they entered the house, one of the mob members named Arjun wanted to forcible take Lalit with him but the two women stood in front and shielded their brother (reminisced the neighbor Preeti ). The situation escalated which resulted in multitude of shots fired two of which hit the sisters.
The assailants managed to escape through the multitude of lanes present in the slums. Meanwhile, the victims were immediately taken to the Safdarjung Hospital, where they were declared dead. At the RK Puram police station, a murder complaint was filed under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, according to the DCP.
Arjun, also known as Anna, Dev, and Michael were arrested who are considered to be the suspects of the crime were arrested by the police. Three other assailants have also been identified.
The Reason
Manoj C, the Deputy Commissioner of South West Delhi has stated that the event happened because of a monetary transaction that happened two months ago.
Lalit gave Dev $10,000 and has been requesting its return, according to DCP.
Lalit abused Dev, his debtor, for not paying up the amount which lead to Dev, along with some of his friends, deciding to take revenge against Lalit.
The family of the assaulted also alleged that Michael and Arjun ran a “satta racket”, where no evidence of such has been found as pointed out by the DCP, whereas Lalit, the brother of the victims was booked for a car robbery in 2010 and was suspected to run the racket. Both the charges were denied by the family.
Chief Minister’s Remark
After expressing his condolences towards the victims families, Mr. Kejriwal tweeted:
Delhi residents feel unsafe and believe those responsible for law and order are trying to take over the government. If AAP controlled law and order instead of LG, Delhi would be safer.
which later ensued in a blame game with other ministers from the ruling party alleging the failure of the State Government to create any type of the coordination among the Lieutenant Governor with regards to the safety and the security of the people.
Why Doesn’t the State Government Take Laws in Hands ?
On 11 May, 2024. The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, presided over a five-judge panel that determined that the Delhi Lt Governor must abide by the NCT of Delhi’s decisions. In matters of Bureaucracy except, police order, land, and public order. The Bench said that Article 239AA created a separate assembly for the NCT of Delhi, but excluded public order, police, and land from the power of the Delhi legislative assembly. The Union of India has executive power over these three entries. However, the Bench also said that Article 239AA should be interpreted to further the interest of representative democracy, and was meant to balance the interests of both the Delhi government and the Centre.
