Police suspect gang war behind south Delhi gym owner's murder, four held
New Delhi (PTI): In a suspected case of gang war, a 35-year-old gym owner was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in the posh Greater Kailash area of south Delhi, police said on Friday.
Four people have been arrested in this connection, they said.
"These four are suspected to have provided logistical support to the shooters. They are being further interrogated by a Special Cell team," a senior officer said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Nitalesh Tiwari, Vishal Verma and Akash Yadav of Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh, and Naveen Baliyan of Haryana's Sonipat.
Two country-made pistols and eight live rounds were seized from them.
The officer said two more people were detained and questioned in connection with the case but the main shooter remained on the run.
The police also suspect the involvement of associates of jailed gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Hashim Baba in the murder.
Nadir Shah -- who previously had criminal cases, including extortion, robbery and attempted murder, against him -- co-owned a gym in Greater Kailash 1.
He would also lend money on very high interest rates, police sources said.
Shah owned a business in Dubai and was stated to be known to some Delhi police officials.
He is survived by his mother and two brothers. Shah's father hailed from Afghanistan and moved to Delhi several years ago.
At the time of the incident, some officials of the Delhi Police's Special Cell were present at the gym, where they had gone to meet an informer, a source said.
Shah was talking to a friend outside the gym when he was shot at around 10.44 pm, the police said.
CCTV camera footage purporting to show Shah talking to a person as an attacker walks towards him and fires a volley of bullets from close range later surfaced on social media.
The police suspect the attacker fled on a motorcycle with an associate, who was waiting for him.
Another police source said the background of the man Shah was talking to when he was attacked had been verified.
He told the police that he had come with a woman friend, who was sitting in his car at that time, the second source said.
Minutes after, a post was shared on a social media account claiming to be that of gangster Rohit Godara, taking responsibility for the shooting.
The post said the shooting was ordered by Sameer Baba, a jailed criminal, as Shah was causing troubling in his business.
"Whoever will support our rival and trouble us will be shot like this," it added.
The post also mentioned the names of Lawrence Bishnoi's associates Godara, Goldy Brar, Gogi gang and Kala Rana gang.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said they received information about the shooting at Greater Kailash 1 and one person being taken to Max Hospital. Personnel rushed to the spot and found bullet projectiles and empty cartridges.
Upon inquiry, it was found that Shah, a resident of CR Park, had suffered five bullet injuries, the police said.
"The attackers came on a two wheeler, fired at him and fled. He was immediately rushed to the hospital by his friends but was declared dead," Chauhan said.
The investigators are looking at all possible angles, he added.
The police suspect a case of rivalry but did not rule out the possibility of a gang war.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
