Contract killing? Shooters waited 3 hours before murdering Shalimar Bagh woman; kin cite past threats

NEW DELHI: A day after a 44-year-old woman was gunned down on a road in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh, police on Sunday said the shooters had been prowling the area for nearly three hours, presumably waiting for her.

The motorcycle used in the crime was later found in Rohini, sources said. Its number plate was from a stolen vehicle, and its chassis number had been tampered with.


CCTV footage showed two suspects on a bike near Rachna Yadav's house before she was shot around 11am, the sources said. A masked man was also seen in the vicinity.

The two suspects later fled towards Rohini, police said, adding that an empty cartridge was found from the spot. Cops suspect it to be a case of contract killing and have formed around a dozen teams to identify and nab the accused. Raids are being conducted in outer Delhi and Haryana.

Rachna, one of the witnesses in the murder of her husband, Bijender Yadav, nearly three years ago, was returning from the last rites of a neighbour and had stopped at a shack near her house to wash her hands and feet when she was attacked, family members said. The shooters were lying in wait and hit her at point-blank range, killing her on the spot.

In May 2023, Bijender, too, was gunned down from close range when he was sitting outside a bakery with some friends in Bhalswa village. Around six rounds were fired then.

A property dealer, Bijender had at least nine criminal cases against him, including that of a murder and under the Arms Act. He was believed to have been killed by his rivals. The family claimed that a few months after his death, unidentified men opened fire in Bhalswa village to intimidate its memb ers.

"About one-and-a-half years ago, my mother had been followed and threatened on the way to court, after which she began attending hearings regarding my father's murder on video," said Kanika, 32, Rachna's elder daughter.

The main accused in the earlier case, Bharat Yadav, who is absconding, is believed to be behind her killing too.