A young Ranchi transporter, on a dessert outing after dinner, was fatally shot in front of his teenaged brother in the heart of the capital late on Monday.
Neither family members nor police are able to say immediately why Manjit Singh (24), a resident of Chutia thana area, was targeted by four strangers on two bikes a stone's throw from his home.
Police are waiting for the transporter's school-going brother, Ranjit (18), to recover from shock and record a sound statement because there allegedly are certain discrepancies in his preliminary version of the incident.
According to a neighbour, the attack on the young man took place around 11pm when the brothers were driving home to Bansal Place from Firayalal, which is 2.5km away.
"Manjit and Ranjit went out around 10.20pm to have ice cream after dinner. The elder one was driving his white Maruti Swift. Ranjit said they found the ice cream parlour closed and decided to meet one of Manjit's friends on Purulia Road, a kilometre from Firayalal," the neighbour said.
On their way back, Manjit asked his younger brother to drive while he took the rear passenger seat behind the driver. "Two bikes began tailing them soon. Then, near the veterinary hospital at Sirom Toli, 100 metres from home, the bikes intercepted their car," the neighbour quoted Ranjit as saying.
One of the bikers knocked on the window. While an apprehensive Ranjit didn't open his, Manjit rolled down a rear window to ask what the men wanted. He was shot in the forehead.
"A traumatised Ranjit dialled family members who rushed to the scene and took Manjit to the nearest private hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead," the neighbour added.
Chutia thana OC Braj Kishore Bharti was busy and refused to comment.
DSP Sudarshan Kumar Astik said they had started investigations. "The brother is understandably very disturbed. We need to record his statement properly because surveillance cameras do not entirely support his version," the officer said.
While Ranjit says the crime was committed near the veterinary hospital, footage from CCTV cameras installed at nearby establishments do not show any bike in the area during the mentioned time, according to the DSP.
"But, we will leave no room for complacency and track down the businessman's killers," Astik added.
Manjit is survived by his father Indrajeet Singh, mother Harjit Kaur, sister Lovely Kaur who is studying arts at St Xavier's College and brother Ranjit, a student of Guru Nanak School who is appearing for his CBSE Plus Two examinations this year.
Maternal uncle Balbinder Singh said Manjit was looking after his father's business. "The family shifted to Bansal Place from Lower Chutia seven years ago. The boy joined family business after his father suffered a cardiac arrest two years ago. He operated two dumpers in Khelari coal mine area, but had no known adversaries. We are numb with shock."
