Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a second year Delhi University student was shot dead near her college in a posh area of south Delhi Tuesday morning. Police say the assailant may be a “stalker”.

Radhika Tanwar, 20, a resident of Naraina area in west Delhi, was a student of Ram Lal Anand College, located in Shantiniketan.

She left home at around 9.15 a.m. and took a bus for Dhaula Kuan, where she met a few of her friends at the bus stop.

“She and her friends then crossed the road using the foot overbridge,” a senior polce officer said.

Just as Radhika stepped down from the bridge, a man shot at her from the back and disappeared into the crowd. The area, which has a number of colleges and shops, is usually abuzz with students and office-goers in the morning.

Radhika fell down with blood gushing out of her neck. Initially, the onlookers did not realise what had happened.

“They thought someone had burst crackers,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said.

However, minutes later, there was pandemonium in the area as many ran away from the spot while others stood dazed.

The police received a call at around 10.25 a.m. saying that a girl had been shot. Another call, made five minutes later, said a girl was lying injured as a mobile phone had burst near her ear.

When a cop rushed to the spot, he saw her friends and onlookers carrying Radhika in an auto.

The cop accompanied them to the Safdarjang Hospital, where they declared her brought dead.

“She was shot near the spinal cord, a few inch below her neck,” a police officer said.

“We are investigating all angles. It could be a case of a stalker committing the murder. But we cannot say anything now as the investigations are at the initial stages,” said Dhaliwal.

“It is possible that the person who shot her was known to her as there has been no attempt to rob her. He may have been trailing and following her closely for some time. The assailant deliberately chose that place because of the congestion and noise in the atmosphere,” he said.

“It was a planned murder,” Dhaliwal added.

Radhika’s father Rajender Singh Tanwar, a property dealer, said: “I just got a call that my daughter has been shot and then rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital, where they declared her dead. I have no clue what’s happening… the police is refusing to say anything.”

“I don’t know who could have done this to my daughter… she had no enmity with anyone,” the hapless father told reporters outside the hospital.