The Delhi police on August 31 arrested two teens out of five wanted for the murder of 36-year-old Harpreet Gill in broad daylight. These accused belong to a splinter gang called “Maya Gang” which draws inspiration from a Bollywood film, Shootout at Lokhandwala. The gang is led by one Mohammad Sameer who calls himself ‘Maya Bhai’ synonymous to Maya, Vivek Oberoi’s character in the film.
Those arrested by the police include Maya Bhai alias Mohammad Sameer and Bilal Gani. Both of them are 18 years old. Police said the other three associates were identified as 23-year-old Sohail alias Bawarchi, 23-year-old Mohammad Junaid alias Biryani and 19-year-old Adnan alias Don.
The attack was launched on August 29, when Sameer, Bilal and others were having a party at Gani’s house, around 10:30 pm they decided to step out for a ride. Police said, Maya alias Sameer was carrying a pistol.
What led to the attack?
The accused were driving two different vehicles as they entered the narrow passage of the Bhajanpura area. They finally entered Gali No. 8/4, Subhash Vihar, Bhajanpura. From the other side, Harpreet with his relatives was coming. As the lane was narrow, Harpreet’s vehicle blocked the lane, this led to an altercation and in no time Sameer opened fire at Harpreet and his relative from close range and fled the spot.
Later, Gill was taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead. He was working as a manager at e-commerce giant, Amazon. Gill’s maternal uncle Govind Singh (32) who was with him during the attack also sustained injuries and was admitted to the hospital.
What said the police?
As per a report by Times of India, the police said that they received information about the attack at around 11:30 pm from the hospital. According to the police, Gill was shot in the head and the bullet passed his head.
“The bullet entered from the right side of his head behind the ears and exited from the other side. Singh too was shot in the head and admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital,” said a police officer. The forensic teams have found three empty cartridges of 7.65 mm from the spot.
Initially, police ruled out that the attack was done for robbery but nothing was taken from the victims. Later, the video footage of the incident was circulated by the intelligence and then the police came to know about the “Maya Gang”.
What said the residents?
Notably, hearing the firing bullet rounds, residents came out and saw Gill lying in the pool of blood. Before anyone could reach for help the assailants fired in the air.
Notably, Singh was lying on the side of the lane gasping for breath and calling for help. It was then the locals called the police and the deceased were taken to the hospital.
What is Maya Gang?
A gang filled with teens, from an area that houses famous veteran gangsters of Northeast Delhi. For almost over a decade, no splinter gang has risen in the area, except for the Maya Gang.
Boys, mostly Muslims between 16 to 22 years of age have joined this gang, which draws inspiration from the Bollywood film, ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’. The kingpin of the gang calls himself Maya Bhai, after Vivek Oberoi’s character Maya Dolas in the film. He is identified as 18-year-old Mohd Sameer.
The gang had a rugged past, and for months they were known in the area for shooting at will, at anyone they wanted, robbing people on the go and killing on spot. These teenagers have murder cases registered against them.
The head of the gang, Sameer before turning 18, has four murder cases registered against him. He was left every time, for being underage. The whole gang has a similar record and they easily get away because of their age.
Instagram handle of Maya Bhai
On August 31, Organiser accessed Sameer’s Instagram handle who calls himself ‘Maya Bhai’. His handle name ends with ‘302’ referring to IPC Section 302. His Instagram bio reads, “Naam – badnam, address – kabristan, umr – jeene ki, shauk – marne ka”. He has over 2,000 followers on Instagram.
His profile is filled with pictures where is flashing guns, drinking alcohol, Hookah and sitting in jail. A video shared in his profile features him firing bullets on his will anywhere anytime. He has also news clips featuring them in media for their crimes. He proudly shows them with the caption “Maya Gang”.
One such video shared in his profile has a background score where the journalist shares how police have arrested members of the Maya Gang.
Meet Mohd Sameer(18) who with 4 others shot dead Amazon Executive Harpreet Gill, in Delhi on August 28.
Sameer is the kingpin of "Maya Gang" inspired by Vivek Oberoi's character Maya in the film Shootout at Lokhandwala.
This thread has some video's from his Instagram account: pic.twitter.com/tCDO8gwVqG
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) August 31, 2023
The other video posted in July 2022 from the account features some men with skull caps sharing how this notorious gang has killed one of their family members.
The man in the video says, “He kills… goes in… comes out… and kills again… He will come out this time too and the police will say he is underage. These boys have been doing this for months now. They have killed my family members but I am sure they will not get punished”.
The same man shared how the gang has taken inspiration from Bollywood.
Other posts from his account show him sitting in the police lockup with other gang members. In a post from October 2022, he is sitting at the hospital and the background score of the video features a news report where the journalist is sharing that Sameer has killed someone.
His Instagram profile is filled with pictures where he is carrying guns & is sitting in Jail. He has also shared a video footage where people are complaining about the gang & are released for being underage.
Here's the statement: pic.twitter.com/VZJZ8KyI69
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) August 31, 2023
As per the media reports, police have accepted that two murder cases have been registered against Sameer last year.
What said Gill’s family?
Gill’s mother Swarn Kaur said, he has returned home from work and stepped out for some work with Singh, who runs a food joint.
The confrontation leading to the murder happened about 500 metres from their home, according to his uncle Bobby Gill, who was quoting eyewitnesses near the spot. “It was a narrow lane where two men riding a motorcycle hit Harpreet’s motorcycle and sped away. Instead of apologising, they uttered some abuses while fleeing. Harpreet and Singh pursued them and asked them to apologise,” said Bobby Gill.
“Their faces were masked. One of them hit Harpreet, who tried to defend himself. That led to one of the scooter riders whipping out a pistol and shooting Harpreet and Singh from a close range,” Bobby Gill alleged.
“My son did not have any enemies…He was a simple, hardworking man who was killed for no mistake,” said his father, Karnail Singh Gill.
Bollywood-inspired murders from the past
In June this year, a case was reported from Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai where one Sabir was killed by Shahrukh, Nishar and two minors. The assailants planned this murder taking inspiration from Salman Khan’s film Antim.
As per the police, the accused could be heard saying ‘Isko Antim picture ka shot dikha (show him that scene from Antim movie)’. The deceased was taken to the Shatabdi Municipal Hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.
The reports claim that the deceased had organised a birthday party where his friends hired a DJ and asked Sabir to pay for it. He refused as he had already spent Rs 10,000 and was out of money. His infuriated friends got into a fight with him and later one of his friends Salamat borrowed a knife from Shahrukh and stabbed Sabir in his chest.
The Mumbai police booked the accused under section 109 (punishment for abetment), 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.
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