The second person suspected in the stabbing of YouTuber Saleem Wastik in Ghaziabad last week was killed in an exchange of fire with police, officials said on Tuesday. This comes two days after his younger brother, the first suspect identified in the case, was also killed in an exchange of fire with police.
Wastik was allegedly stabbed by two suspects, unidentified at the time, at around 6am on February 27 at his office-cum-residence at Ali Garden in Loni. They then fled on a bike. Wastik is in critical condition and is admitted at a hospital in Delhi, according to his son, Usman Ahmad.
Police first identified Zeeshan Ali as one of the suspects and tracked him down on Sunday. He was allegedly on a bike with another person, later identified as Gulfam, at the time and opened fire when police tried to stop them. Zeeshan was killed in retaliatory fire by the police while Gulfam fled the spot amid cover of darkness, police had said. Both brothers were residents of Khoda in Ghaziabad
On Tuesday, police said Gulfam was tracked down below the Hindon elevated road, near Khoda, after receiving “specific information”.
“He was on a KTM bike with an unidentified person. The team asked them to stop but they opened fire and the police also opened retaliatory fire. The suspect suffered bullet injury and was rushed to a hospital. The other person on bike fled the spot,” Piyush Kumar Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (crime), told HT.
“The injured suspect was rushed to a hospital in Indirapuram where he died during treatment on late Tuesday night,” Nimish Patil, DCP of trans-Hindon zone told HT.
“Both men on the bike opened fire on the Ghaziabad crime branch team. Their bike turned imbalanced while they were trying to flee. They opened fire on police, injuring two personnel. The ACP of the crime branch also took a hit on his bullet-proof jacket,” said police commissioner J Ravinder Goud.
Investigators said it had been established that it was Zeeshan and Gulfam who had assaulted Wastik.
“A video of them fleeing on bike had also surfaced. Gulfam was driving the bike while Zeeshan was riding pillion. Their clothes were blood stained. Like Zeeshan, Gulfam also lived in Khoda, but he was living in a separate rented house with his wife,” said Siddharth Gautam, ACP of Loni circle.
A reward of ₹1 lakh had been announced for each of their arrests.
Separately, police on Tuesday also said the weapon — a paper cutter — used to stab Wastik had been recovered from Zeeshan. “Some broken window glasses were also found at the incident site. It is suspected that pieces of glass were also used during the attack,” Surendra Nath Tiwary, deputy commissioner of police (rural zone), told HT.
Following the February 27 attack on Wastik, his son, Usman Ahmad, lodged an FIR against two unidentified bikers as well as three others—a political functionary, a builder, and several local politicians.
“So far, we have not come to know the involvement of those named in the FIR. The two suspects were self-motivated and decided to launch an attack on Wastik on their own in retaliation to the videos he posts. During the attack, they used a bike of their uncle. An investigation is underway. We are also trying to examine the social media account of Zeeshan, which had certain posts and also a link to an overseas social media account. On Monday, the body of the deceased was handed over to his father,” Tiwary added.