gurgaon

Updated: Jul 16, 2015 08:08 IST

An audacious gang shooting in the heart of Gurgaon on Wednesday morning left an auto driver dead and two critically injured after an SUV crushed an auto while trying to swerve out of the way of a hailstorm of bullets.

Eyewitnesses said unknown assailants opened fire on a sports-utility vehicle -- in which an alleged gangster was travelling -- around 9am, forcing the vehicle to jump the divider and hit incoming traffic on the arterial MG Road.

“We heard gunfire and suddenly saw a car flying after breaking the divider and landing on an auto-rickshaw. The drivers of both vehicles were rushed to hospital,” said an eyewitness. Both drivers were critically injured, police said.

The attack that sent shock waves through the Millennium City was a case of gang rivalry that left a bystander auto driver dead after a bullet pierced through his head, police said.

“The police are conducting an investigation and a few names have come out. We are hopeful that by tomorrow, we will be able to come to the core issue,” said Navdeep Singh Virk, the Gurgaon commissioner of police.

The alleged gangster, 35-year-old Rakesh Kumar, had just got out of his gated community in Beverly Park and was on his way to the Gurgaon district court when around five unidentified men started firing at his vehicle at the posh Mall Mile.

Five to six rounds of bullets were fired before the men fled in a Hyundai Santro with an Uttar Pradesh registered nameplate.



Within seconds of the first bullet, Rakesh jumped out of the car and hid inside a nearby building. However, a bullet hit the SUV’s driver, who lost control and lost control of the vehicle and hit a car, flipping it over, before jumping the divider. The SUV then flew into incoming traffic on the opposite lane and flattened an auto near Central Mall.

Police quickly rushed to the spot and rescued Rakesh, who was hiding inside Time Tower, with the help of a few of his men and sent him to a hospital. The SUV driver was pulled out of the vehicle by breaking the car’s window glass.



“Around 9 am, we got information about a sound of firing on mall road. Where we reached there, we found a car on the top of an auto. Four people started to fire and an auto driver standing there got hit in the head and died. Another auto driver is admitted in Safdurjung Hospital,” Virk said.

The police had arrested a man named Kapil on Tuesday for keeping a large quantity of guns at his home. Kapil alleged he was forced to stock up on arms after receiving a threat from Rakesh Kumar.