NEW DELHI: The shootout on Monday had its roots in an honour killing by gangster Jitender Gogi in 2015. His cousin was friends with one Deepak, which Gogi had objected to.Deepak, the brother of a strongman named Pawan, continued with his relationship ignoring Gogi’s threats. Then in January 2015, Gogi had learnt about Deepak introducing himself as Gogi’s brother-in-law. Days later, Gogi and his associates Kuldeep Fajja, Jarnail Jelly and Yogesh Tunda shot Deepak. The case was under trial and Mukul Bhanja, who was killed on Monday, was facilitating the prosecution.Sources said Gogi learnt about Mukul and his uncle Pawan joining up with his arch rival, Sunil Tajpuria alias Tillu . And the gang war started as a result.Last year, at least four murders happened as part of this. This January, Gogi killed Tillu’s aide, Ravi Bhardwaj, by shooting him 30 times in full public view at Prashant Vihar.The Tillu gang hit back by killing Gogi’s man, Monu Nepali, near Rohini court. Two weeks ago, Tillu gang shot Dinesh Karala, another friend of Gogi, inside Tis Hazari courts. Gogi and Karala had murdered popular folk singer Harshita Dahiya.After two back-to-back hits, Gogi was desperate to strike back. But Tillu, though lodged in a Haryana jail, had managed to resurrect his gang with the help of his aide, Amit Tajpuria alias Dabang. The gang was now powerful. Gogi had to be cautious about that and also the fact that he carried a Rs 4 lakh reward on his head. Gogi thought targeting Mukul would be a bit easier. But Mukul was also being cautious and had recently spent Rs 5 lakh in making his car bulletproof.Then last week, Gogi learnt about Mukul’s daily routine. Two days ago, his associates did a recce of the Sant Nagar gym. And on Monday, they struck. It’s been learnt that Rohit Moi and Kuldeep Fajja were there with Gogi in the shootout.Gogi was last arrested in 2015 for killing Tillu’s associate Sumi Aaloo. But he had escaped from custody on way to court. Sources say he has been hiding in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and comes to Delhi only to commit crimes.But police are stunned by the brazenness of this shootout and fear there will be more violence after this. “When Haryana and Delhi police are looking for him apart from Tillu gang members, it is intriguing that he decided to commit such a crime. It seems he no longer wants to run,” said an investigator.The case has been given to a Special Cell team led by DCP Pramod Kushwaha.Gogi’s enmity with Tillu went back as far as 2013. At the Delhi University students’ union elections that year, Gogi and his gang had shot two associates of Tillu named Sandeep and Ravinder. They have been enemies ever since.