Four men, including two brothers, were arrested today (3) for allegedly firing at policemen near Shivaji Stadium in the high-security Lutyens' Delhi, police said.
The incident was reported last night when the four men, in their 20s, got into an argument with a cigarette stall owner and the police personnel from a nearby picket rushed to intervene.
The men were enraged after the stall owner, who had closed his shop, refused to sell them cigarettes.
One of the accused was carrying a gun. He forced the stall owner to reopen the shop at gunpoint, police said.
An eyewitness rushed to a nearby police picket and asked the personnel to intervene.
On seeing the police personnel, one of the accused, Aman Bhatia (25), who was carrying the pistol, fired at them. In retaliation, the police team fired four rounds in the air, said a senior police officer.
Subsequently, he was overpowered and arrested. Bhatia's three accomplices, his twin brother Punit Bhatia (25), Sahil Verma (25) and Kamal (23) were also arrested, said B K Singh, deputy commissioner of Police (New Delhi).
Two men, who were accompanying them, fled in their car.
The accused were also thrashed by the public.
Aman Bhatia had been recently released from jail. He had been lodged in jail for the last three years in a murder case.
Police have seized a country-made pistol with two live cartridges from him.
Last month, an incident was reported in the area where unidentified men had fired at a car in which four people, including two criminals, were travelling.
It has been found that these accused were involved in the incident, police said.
Damian Talbot