Greater Noida Dowry Murder Accused Shot in Police ‘Encounter’
Vipin Bhati, Husband of Deceased Nikki Bhati, Suffered a Gunshot Wound While Attempting to Escape Custody; Victim's Father Welcomes the Police Action.
- Police shot Vipin Bhati in the leg during a police encounter.
- He attempted to escape custody while being taken to the crime scene.
- The accused snatched an officer’s pistol and opened fire.
- The victim’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, praised the police action.
GG News Bureau
Greater Noida, 24th Aug: Police shot Vipin Bhati, the man accused of killing his wife Nikki in a dowry-related crime, in the leg after he attempted to escape custody. Vipin was in police custody, and officers took him to his Greater Noida home to recover the bottle of flammable liquid that he allegedly used to set his wife on fire.
According to senior police officer Sudhir Kumar, Vipin Bhati attempted to flee. He snatched a police officer’s pistol and opened fire. In a retaliatory action, the police shot him in the leg, quickly apprehending him. Officers then took him to a hospital under police supervision.
The incident occurred just hours after Nikki’s father, Bhikari Singh Payla, publicly demanded that police shoot the accused in an encounter. After hearing the news, he expressed his satisfaction. “I am happy. Such people should be shot or hanged. They should have shot him in the chest,” he stated, adding that police should also apprehend and hang those still on the run.
From his hospital bed, Vipin Bhati denied any involvement in his wife’s death. He told a news agency, “I have not done anything. She died on her own.” He then dismissed the severity of the alleged crime, stating, “Fights between husband and wife happen everywhere. It is not a big deal.”
Nikki’s sister, Kanchan, who also married into the same family, provided a harrowing account of the events. She alleged that her sister had endured years of torture for dowry, with the family demanding ₹36 lakh. She also claimed that the brothers would often stay out late with other women and that the in-laws took all the sisters’ earnings from their make-up studio. Nikki and Vipin’s six-year-old son witnessed the crime and told police how his father and grandmother set his mother on fire.
