Gunmen Dressed as Lawyers Kill Gang Suspect in Court

Notorious Delhi gangster Jitender Gogi was taken from jail to a court hearing Friday—but he was executed before it began. Two men dressed in the black robes worn by lawyers in India opened fire as Gogi entered the courtroom, killing him, the AP reports. The two attackers, believed to be members of a rival gang, were killed in a shootout with officers escorting the gang leader. The Times of India reports that the judge was unharmed, but a female lawyer was injured. There were few people in the courtroom at the time because of COVID restrictions.

It's not clear how the attackers got the weapons into the court building, which is equipped with metal detectors. The chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi slammed the security lapse and asked members to skip work Friday. Gogi, who was arrested in April, was linked to more than a dozen murder and attempted murder cases, including the 2017 killing of folk singer Harshita Dahiya, a witness in a murder case against one of his associates. Police say the Gogi gang ran extortion rackets in Delhi and carried out numerous carjackings and robberies, the Hindustan Times reports. A longstanding rivalry with the Tillu gang, believed to be behind Friday's killing, reportedly started during Delhi University student elections a decade ago. (More India stories.)