Delhi-based assailants kill woman; later shoot cop at Pune Railway Station

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PUNE: Two Delhi-based assailants shot dead a woman in the city Wednesday morning and later wounded a police officer at the Pune railway station while trying to escape from the city, police said.

While one of the assailants was nabbed on the railway station premises, the other boarded a train but was held at Daund station by Railway Protection Force (RPF), police said.

Deputy commissioner of police Shirish Sardeshpande said that Ekta Brijesh Bhati (37), a resident of Indrayani Society in Chandannagar area, was shot from close range by two men on the staircase of her building in the morning.

"She was rushed to hospital by her husband and neighbours but she succumbed to her injuries," the DCP said.

Inspector Gajanan Pawar of Unit III of Crime Branch got information that the assailants were from Delhi and had a monetary dispute with Bhati and husband, he said.

"Pawar and other officials got a tip-off that the accused were about to board a Delhi-bound train in the evening. Police team spotted the accused on platform number three, and when they tried to nab the duo, one of them shot Pawar," DCP Sardeshpande said.

The accused who opened fire ran but was caught outside the railway station, while his accomplice escaped on a train.

The RPF nabbed a suspect at Daund, and police were verifying if it was the same person, the DCP said.

Pawar was hit in the cheek and lungs and underwent surgery at a private hospital, the DCP said. His condition was stated to be stable.

The Bhatis, who hail from Delhi, had reportedly taken a loan from the accused but had not repaid it, he said, adding that further probe was on.

Police did not reveal the identity of the two accused.