india

Updated: Jan 03, 2019 14:16 IST

The 42-year-old woman, who was allegedly shot at by a former Janata Dal(United) legislator Raju Singh during celebratory firing at New Year’s Eve party, died early on Thursday.

Singh, who was hosting a New Year’s party at a south Delhi farmhouse where he lives with his two brothers, allegedly fired two to three shots and one of which hit Archana Gupta, an architect who lived in Gautam Nagar.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Vijay Kumar confirmed Gupta died during treatment at Fortis Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital in Vasant Kunj.

“He had been booked for attempting a murder under IPC (Indian Penal Code) 307. We will now change it to section 302 and he will be charged for murder,” said a senior police officer.

Delhi Police detained Singh and his bodyguard on Wednesday near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Police also recovered two rifles and at least 800 live bullets from Singh’s farmhouse in Fatehpur Beri where the shooting took place on December 31. Gupta was on life support since then.

A police team that visited the farmhouse on Tuesday to question witnesses and recreate the crime scene said there were 60-70 guests at the party.

“Initial questioning revealed that at least 30 people, including Archana Gupta and her husband Vikas Gupta, were near the dance floor when the incident took place. They said both Raju Singh and his bodyguard Hari Singh were firing. While Hari had a rifle, Raju Singh was firing from his pistol,” said an official privy to the probe.

“The bullet that hit Gupta may have been fired from the pistol. But forensics experts are yet to confirm it. We are verifying facts with CCTV footage,” the officer said.

A wounded Gupta was rushed to Fortis Flt Lt Rajan Dhall Hospital, which informed the police about the incident.

“The patient was brought to the emergency at 00:18am on January 1, 2019, by her attendant in an extremely critical condition. She was attended by doctors immediately and medical treatment administered as per protocol,” a hospital spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

The JD(U) has distanced itself from Singh, who has five other police cases registered against him. Sanjay Jha, national general secretary of JD(U), said Singh had left the party in 2014.