GHAZIABAD: A 35-year-old man out on bail in an extortion case was shot five times, allegedly by assailants outside a roadside eatery in the Modinagar area on Thursday night.Despite bleeding heavily, the victim, Rahul Chaudhary, a resident of Raj Nagar Extension, managed to drive himself to a hospital more than 25 kilometres away, where he underwent surgery and remains critical, police said.Modinagar ACP Bhaskar Verma said they have recovered 49-second CCTV footage from the area, which shows two men standing near a scooter outside Swagat Dhaba in the Seekri Kalan area near NH-58 as Chaudhary arrived in his Scorpio around 9.30 pm on Thursday.One of the men can be seen in the footage opening the car door beside the driver’s seat. About 20 seconds later, a third man, wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, can be spotted approaching the SUV and opening fire at Chaudhary, who was still in the driving seat, the ACP said. After the shooting, the assailant walked away calmly while the two other men rode off on the scooter.The area was fairly busy at the time, and CCTV clips show several cars passing by.Chaudhary sustained bullet injuries to the neck, chest, abdomen and leg, but managed to start his Scorpio and drive for more than 30 minutes towards Yashoda Hospital in Sanjay Nagar.Hospital staff later told police that Chaudhary drove through the main gate unassisted, stepped out of the vehicle and called for help before collapsing. He underwent an emergency operation and subsequently moved to the intensive care unit.Initial investigation suggested Chaudhary had gone to the dhaba to collect Rs 75,000 from the two men he had been in contact with.
Rahul Chaudharywas arrested in an extortion case six months ago and had come out on bail just two months before the attack
Chaudhary’s wife, Karishma, said her husband had received calls from two acquaintances, Vinay Vashishth and Arvind Saini, asking him to meet. He left home around 7 pm. The two men initially asked him to come to Vashishth’s residence, but Chaudhary declined, citing a narrow approach road. They then asked him to meet at Swagat Dhaba instead.“After about 15 minutes of talking, when he was about to leave, Saini opened the car door and asked, ‘Bhaiya, when will you come again?’ Just then, Vashishth, Saini and Ashwani Chauhan, along with some unknown person, opened fire at him,” Karishma said.Karishma alleged that Jalbeer Pandit, Ravi Valmiki and Peetam Saini orchestrated the broader conspiracy to carry out the attack. She said Pandit was a history-sheeter with over two dozen cases to his name, and had previously ordered a similar attack on her husband. A case was registered at Niwari police station in the matter, but he remains an absconder.According to police, Chaudhary himself was named as an accused in 18 cases on charges, including murder, attempt to murder and extortion, at multiple police stations across Ghaziabad, including Modinagar, Bhojpur and Niwari. He had been acquitted in seven of the cases, but was arrested six months ago in an extortion case. He had come out on bail just two months before the attack.Based on Karishma’s complaint, police registered an FIR under BNS sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) against Jalbeer Pandit, Ravi Valmiki, Peetam Saini, Vinay Vashishth, Arvind Saini, Ashwani Chauhan and two unidentified persons.Five teams have been formed to arrest the accused. Police are also scanning CCTV footage from surrounding areas to identify the shooter and trace the others involved, Verma said.
