Two of the five men wounded in an attack that left a former Delhi legislator dead remained in critical condition on Monday while police were yet to make any arrest in the case.
Former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator Bharat Singh was brought dead to the hospital after Sunday evening's attack that wounded five others.
"Ram Jeevan and Dalbir are in critical condition," Deputy Commissioner of Police R.A. Sanjeev told IANS. The shooting took place at a religious event.
The other three wounded were Sunita, 16-year-old Paras, and Delhi Police constable Sandeep.
Sunita and Sandeep were discharged while Paras, who was shot in his stomach, was still in hospital.
"An FIR has been registered against unknown people," the officer said.
"We are looking for people who came in SUV cars and stormed the venue with pistols and fired at Bharat Singh."
Meanwhile, Bharat Singh's body was cremated in his native Dichaon village in Najafgarh.
His elder brother Krishan Pehalwan, who is involved in over two dozen criminal cases, accused the home ministry and Delhi Police of not giving adequate security to the former legislator which led to his death.
"My brother was attacked in 2012 as well and he has been getting regular threats. We have been demanding security for him since the last three years, but Delhi Police and the home ministry did not pay heed to our request and he was killed," Krishan Pehalwan told reporters at Dichaon on Monday.
Initial police investigation revealed that the attack was the culmination of a long-standing rivalry between the two brothers and a gang of local criminal Udayveer alias Kaale, who was recently released from jail.
Sources said it is almost certain that the murder took place over a property dispute.
Police, however, did not rule out the role of Haryana-based gangsters who used Uttar Pradesh-based sharp shooters.
Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi, however, confirmed it was an incident of personal rivalry and not of a gang war.
"I would not like to term it as gang war. There are certain long-standing rivalries among certain groups and there have been some incidents in the past involving these people.
"These kind of old rivalries are common in Delhi's rural belt and one shouldn't look at these incidents as gang wars. These criminal incidents are a result of certain disputes between individuals," Bassi said.
He expressed confidence that investigators will be able to nab the assailants soon, as police were working on certain leads.
"We are working on some definite leads. Several teams are working on this case.
"Apart from this, our sleuths from the Crime Branch and Special Cell are also helping them. We are confident in cracking the case soon," Bassi said.
Investigators also indicated toward the involvement of insiders.
Police said both the brothers used to be under tight security.
"It seems somebody tipped off the attackers that Bharat Singh was going to attend the function," said an official close to the probe.
Police were scanning the CCTV footage of the neighbouring areas of the banquet hall where the attack took place around 8:10 p.m. on Sunday.
Bharat Singh was attending a religious programme at Abhinandan Vatika in Najafgarh, from where he was elected as legislator in 2009.
A CCTV footage showed a man running out of the banquet hall and fleeing on a bike soon after the attack. Investigators are trying to identify the man.
Police have questioned dozens of people so far and were working on several leads but no arrests were made till Monday evening.
Police said they were also looking for a black SUV which was used by the assailants to reach the spot and flee.
