A 20-year-old dance instructor was shot dead minutes after he made fun of a man for his dance steps during a religious procession in the heart of the national capital. The suspect, still unidentified, returned with his two friends and shot him from close range in the chest.

An onlooker, who was recording people dancing on the street near a temple in central Delhi, captured the moments after the shot was fired. Many people around Avinash Sangwan hadn’t realised that the dance instructor had been shot. It is only when the dance instructor took off his T-shirt after feeling the blood on his chest that people realised what had happened.

The incident took place at about 11.30 pm on Wednesday.

Avinash’s friend, Nikhil Sangwan, also a dance teacher, told the police that they were dancing outside the Valmiki temple at Mandir Marg as part of the Valmiki Jayanti celebrations.

Nikhil told police that he and his friends including Avinash were dancing near the temple when they noticed a well-built man also dancing.

Avinash reportedly mocked the stranger about his dance steps. The man came towards Avinash and pushed him away angrily. He seemed to have left but returned soon enough. The three sensed trouble and this time, Avinash ignored him and asked his friends to move away.

“He returned with his two friends and they all joined us in the dance. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot sound and saw Avinash bleeding from his chest. We helped Avinash remove his t-shirt and found him bleeding from his right side of the chest. Before we could understand anything, Avinash collapsed on the road. We rushed him to Lohia hospital in a passerby’s car,” Nikhil said in his complaint.

Doctors said he had died of the gunshot would well before he reached hospital.