18-year-old Gunjan, was shot outside Patanjali store in Palam Vihar
Highlights
- 18-year-old shot dead on Monday outside Patanjali shop
- Father says police ignored his complaints about her stalker
- CCTV recorded killing but shooter's face unclear, says police
An 18-year-old working at a Patanjali store in Gurgaon near Delhi was shot dead on Monday night, the police said. The murder was caught on security cameras at the busy market, but the police are not able to identify the killer. "We don't know yet who is behind the murder. There is CCTV footage but the face is not visible," said senior police officer Jai Singh.
The shooting took place at 9 pm, when most shops in the market were still open. "She had gone out of the shop to get water, and we heard a shot. Only one shot was fired... the shot hit her," said a co-worker identified as Sumit, gesturing to his chest to indicate how the victim was killed.
The teen was taken to hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Sohan Lal, who owns a shop in the market where Gunjan was killed, said nobody rushed to help her when she fell to the ground. "No one approached her for at least 10-15 minutes, people were reluctant since this was a shooting case and later the police could harass those who got involved," he said.
Her family claims that the man who shot her is Pawan Kumar, who lives in a village nearby and had been stalking her for months. Gunjan started working at the Patanjali store about six months ago, they said.
"He had come earlier to the Patanjali shop along with his friends and used filthy language. We complained also, but police did not act," said her father, Chandra Bhan.
Several teams have been formed and are conducting raids at various places to locate the suspect, the police said.
Patanjali Ayurved is the country's quickest-growing consumer goods company; it makes toothpaste, flour, shampoos, medicines and more which are sold through thousands of outlets. The conglomerate's brand ambassador is yoga guru Baba Ramdev.