Pay a heavy price for confronting harassers. That was the grim message for a 40-year-old clothes seller, who was beaten up and shot in the abdomen by a goon for coming to the aid of a woman who was being harassed in Janakpuri, west Delhi.

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Sanjay, who sells readymade clothes from a roadside cart in Gurgaon, had to undergo an emergency operation as the bullet had grazed his internal organs.

The main accused, Ravinder, an MBA dropout and alleged member of a local criminal gang, was arrested on Wednesday.

The shooting happened on December 19. At that time, it was believed to be an instance of inter-gang rivalry. However, Sanjay's statement, given after his recovery, changed the cops' view of the case.

Sanjay told police that he was returning home in a taxi borrowed from a friend after visiting a garments supplier in Rohini. He had stopped near the Janakpuri Metro Station to buy some packed food when he heard a woman calling out for help.

According to him, Ravinder and his gang members, Anshu Gupta, Ramesh and Pradeep, had gathered outside the eatery and were passing lewd comments at women. When Sanjay confronted them, Ravinder tried to push him away and thrashed him. But when he refused to move, the goon pulled out a pistol and fired.

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Hearing the gunshot, locals gathered at the site and the goons fled. Sanjay was taken to a hospital in a PCR van, where doctors conducted a surgery. He is now recuperating.

"A team was formed to track down Ravinder. It laid a trap near the Dwarka sector 10 Metro station on the basis of a tip-off and nabbed Ravi when he came to meet an associate," said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner, crime. Ravinder was found to be an associate of the Saddam Gauri gang which is active in west and southwest Delhi.

He used to allegedly extort money from criminals operating gambling rackets in parts of the Delhi. His father was a CPWD employee and he stayed with his family in Paharganj. Police said Ravinder joined the Saddam Gauri gang in 2010. The criminals indulged in heinous offences including running of gambling rackets. It was also found that Ravinder was involved in several other criminal cases and had been arrested five times by the police.

Police have recovered the 7.65mm bore pistol which he had borrowed from a friend known as Apache.