A man standing near his house, waiting to have ‘sehri’ (the pre-dawn meal consumed by Muslims before fasting for Ramzan), was gunned down by four men on motorcycles in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on Friday. One of the attackers shot the man multiple times, after which he fell, and another then got off the bike and pumped three more bullets into him to make sure he was dead.
CCTV footage from Telipada in Aligarh’s Roravar shows Haris alias Katta, who had returned after playing a cricket match and was waiting to have ‘sehri’, standing on the road near his house with another man around 3.15 am. The other man moves to sit on a ledge and Haris can be seen watching two bikes pulling up next to him with interest.
Haris turns and tries to shield himself when he sees the pillion rider of the bike closest to him pointing a gun, but is shot once while the bike is still in motion. The pillion rider shoots Haris twice more in quick succession, after which he falls and the man who was with him makes a run for it. The first shooter pumps another bullet into the fallen Haris and then climbs back onto the motorcycle.
The pillion rider of the other bike, meanwhile, gets off and walks towards Haris. He tries to shoot the fallen man and realises he has forgotten to cock the gun. After doing so, he fires three bullets at Haris, climbs on the bike, and both two-wheelers leave. The video ends with Haris lying on the road and a man chasing after the bikes.
Police officials said the attack on Haris was probably the result of an enmity, but other angles are also being investigated.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Mayank Pathak said, “We received information about the shooting around 3.30 am. Haris was taken to a hospital immediately, where he died. A case has been registered and investigation is on.”
Shoaib, a relative, said Haris was like a younger brother to him. “We had come here for ‘sehri’ around 3 am. That’s when Haris was shot. There was no enmity. These people (the shooters) are criminals.”
(With inputs from Adnan Khan)