‘Is being Bihari a crime?’: Family of delivery agent shot dead by Delhi cop demands Rs 1 crore relief

On April 26, the fifth resident, Pandav Kumar (21), a food delivery worker, was shot dead allegedly by Delhi Police Head Constable Neeraj Balhara, posted with the Special Cell, following a heated exchange that reportedly involved a ‘Bihari’ slur.

Inside the family single-story room. Pandav’s younger brother, Vikas, sits on the floor. (Express Photo by Alok Singh)

Sitting on the floor at their home, his younger brother, Vikas, struggles to speak. “No one else in the family can earn. My parents are old and unwell and I suffer from bone tuberculosis…,” he says. “We have fallen apart after Pandav’s death. We don’t know what the future holds.”

The family, along with several relatives living nearby, had migrated to Delhi from Bihar’s Khagaria district around two decades ago in search of work. Pandav’s father, Ganesh, took up temporary cleaning jobs in factories but had to stop due to illness.

Until recently, Pandav, Vikas, their parents Ganesh and Mina Devi, and their five-year-old niece Deepika lived in another house in the same locality before shifting to this rented single-room accommodation last month. Pandav would pay the rent of Rs 5,000.

Vikas says he had to drop out of school after Class VI due to his illness. “Bhaiya had promised me to get the treatment,” he says.

Following the incident, Delhi Police arrested Neeraj from his village in Rohtak, Haryana, and recovered his service weapon.

Pandav’s cousin Rahul says the family has three demands — a speedy trial, a government job for Vikas after treatment, and Rs 1 crore compensation. “Tell me if we are asking for anything wrong,” he says. “The government can at least provide a job, even a small one, to Pandav’s brother. A serving police officer has killed Pandav without fault; the family should be given Rs 1 crore.”

The case had triggered political reactions from Delhi to Patna. Leaders including Pappu Yadav, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP R K Verma, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, and Congress leader Devender Yadav visited the family, assuring justice and offering financial aid.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, LJP leader Chirag Paswan, and Bhojpuri actor-politician Khesari Lal Yadav condemned the killing.

On April 29, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta met the family and assured them of support.

Help, however, is yet to materialise.

Pointing to a cooler and a washing machine, Vikas says Pandav bought the appliances monthly installments. The only smartphone Vikas carries belonged to Pandav, he adds, also purchased on EMI, which the family is now unable to repay.

Gesturing to the LPG cylinder, he says, “Bhaiya hi cylinder lata tha… ab khana chulhe pe bana rahe hain (My brother used to get it refilled, but now it’s empty. We are forced to cook on a clay stove outside the room).”

The home is located on the second floor of a two-storey building in the narrow lanes of Prajapati Colony in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar. (Express Photo by Alok Singh)

Vikas adds that a Hero Splendor motorcycle, bought last year on installments, has been seized by police as part of the case property.

The night of the murder

The evening of April 25 unfolded in celebration.

Pandav’s relative Rupesh Kumar had invited him and several family members to his two-year-old son’s birthday party at his home in Jaffarpur Kalan’s Rawta village. The party ended late, around 1.30 am, and the group headed downstairs.

Pandav, his friend Krishna and cousin Deepak, were sitting astride his motorcycle while three other relatives were on a scooter.

According to the FIR, registered based on Rupesh’s statement, they were talking when Neeraj came out of his house, in Gali number 7 across the road. “He abused and threatened us, saying, ‘what are you doing here so late at night?’,” Rupesh said in his statement.

“Neeraj had a pistol in his hand. Waving it around, he said, ‘You Biharis have created chaos here. Everyone is building houses here and has gathered here, ruining the atmosphere, and we local residents can do nothing. But today I will set things right’,” the FIR quotes him as saying.

Rupesh alleged that the officer first pointed the gun towards the group on the scooter, but they drove off. He briefly chased them before returning and again confronting Rupesh and Pandav, the FIR stated.

“I folded my hands and told him it was my mistake. I said I would go back to my house, and let my relatives also head home. But he kept getting angry and hurled abuses… he then pointed his pistol toward the motorcycle on which Pandav was sitting and fired a shot,” Rupesh alleged, as per the FIR.

The bullet hit Pandav, passed through his chest, and hit Krishan in his abdomen.

Police had said the weapon allegedly used was a 9 mm Glock — Neeraj’s service firearm. Jaffarpur Kalan fell within his jurisdiction, which is why he was carrying it at the time, they had said.

Demands for justice

At the family’s tiny home, relatives and neighbours have gathered in solidarity. Outside, a tent has been set up in Prajapati Colony, where many migrant workers from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh live. A poster bearing Pandav’s photograph reads: “Kya Bihari hona gunah hai? (Is being Bihari a crime?).”

Beside it sits a pot containing his ashes.

Rahul, who works as a supervisor in a construction company and lives in the same locality, adds that most relatives are daily wage labourers. “Is it our fault that we work just to survive?”

He says he was called to meet CM Gupta on April 29, who assured educational support for Vikas and Pandav’s niece. “But the family has not received any help from the government so far,” he claims.

Mina Devi breaks down then. “My son was killed by a police officer for no fault of his,” she alleges. “He quit studying after Class X to support us. He used to earn Rs 1,000 a day delivering food, and spent everything on the family. How will we survive now?”

The family recalls another tragedy — Pandav’s elder sister Kajal, who was allegedly murdered by her in-laws over dowry in Begusarai three years ago. Her young daughter Deepika, now five, has been raised by the family since.

“Her husband refused to take in Deepika, who was three at the time. Pandav was planning to get her admitted to a school,” Rahul says.

As they mourn the loss of a son and brother, the family stares at an uncertain future and the unravelling of a life Pandav had been trying to build for them — one EMI, one expense, one small promise at a time.