The gym owner who was shot dead in South Delhi’s upscale Greater Kailash area on Thursday night had come in the crosshairs of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang because he had asked his business partner not to pay Rs 5 crore that the outfit had tried to extort from him, sources have told NDTV. 

Nadir Shah, who is of Afghan origin, was allegedly also friends with two South Delhi gangsters. This friendship was used by the Bishnoi gang to tap the enemies of the gangsters, who, in turn, roped in people who had been threatened by Shah earlier, building a complex web before finally carrying out the murder. 

Shah was shot dead on a busy road in Greater Kailash-1. A video of the shooting showed him standing and talking to one of his associates near some parked cars when a man in a checked shirt walked up to them and began firing. Shah’s associate managed to duck but the gym owner was shot six to eight times and was declared dead at a hospital.

While the shooter is on the run, four people have been arrested so far and their interrogation and the police’s investigation have revealed that Shah was a business partner of a man called Kunal Chhabra, who runs several illegal call centres in Delhi. Some time ago, members of Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang had tried to extort Rs 5 crore from Chhabra, but Shah had told him not to pay, saying he would protect him because he had friends in high places. 

Sources said this made Shah a target for the Bishnoi gang and he also spoke to Lawrence Bishnoi to negotiate a settlement, but was turned down. Around this time, Bishnoi was taken into police custody and allegedly tortured and he held Shah responsible for that. He allegedly declared in front of police officials that he would now take not five but Rs 10 crore from Shah and Chhabra. 

Spinning The Web

Shah was friends with South Delhi gangsters Ravi Gangwal and Rohit Chaudhary, who were enemies of Hashim Baba, a North East Delhi gangster. Sources said Rohit Godara, a key member of the Bishnoi gang – who has claimed responsibility for Shah’s murder – used this enmity to rope in Hashim Baba in his plan to kill Shah. 

Hashim Baba brought in Randeep, a gangster from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, who is currently in the US. Randeep allegedly brought in a few men from Azamgarh to kill Shah. 

Widening the conspiracy, Hashim Baba, who is lodged in Tihar Jail, also roped in his jailmate Sameer Baba, a gangster who was once threatened by Shah. 

The shooting was finally carried out by Hashim Baba and Randeep’s shooters and of the four men who have been arrested by the police so far, three – Nilesh Tiwari, Vishal Verma and Akash Yadav – are from Azamgarh, while Naveen Baliyan is from Sonipat in Haryana. 

Shah’s business partner, Chhabra, is in Dubai and has a non-bailable warrant against him in Delhi. Shah also owned a business in Dubai and had several criminal cases against him.