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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 30: Well-known model and TV personality Jessica Lal was shot dead in a crowded South Delhi restaurant in the wee hours of today, by a man who was allegedly refused a drink, police said.
Jessica (34), who was tending the bar as a private party was on at `Tamarind Coffe' in the posh Qutab Colonade owned by well-known socialite Bina Ramani and her husband George Maloit, was shot in the temple when two men, both invitees, asked for alcohol at around 2 am, well after the bar was closed, Joint Commissioner of Police (southern range) Amodh Kant told reporters.
When they were refused the drink, one of them took out a pistol and fired twice, one in the air while the other hit Jessica.
She was immediately rushed to Aashlok Hospital and from there shifted to Apollo Hospital, where she was declared brought dead, he said.
The killer, along with his friend, is believed to have fled the scene in a Tata Safari bearing a Chandigarh registration number. The ownership of the vehicle has been traced to aChandigarh-based company, Kant said.
Bina Ramani, her husband Maloit and their daughter Malani were present at the restaurant along with hosts of other invitees when the incident occurred, he said, adding that the police have got the list of invitees verifying their antecedents.
Jessica, who is also an event manager, used to do bar tending in the restaurant on Thursdays and lend her hand in running it, Kant said.
The empty cartridge recovered from the crime site suggested the bullet was fired from a sophisticated foreign-made .22 bore pistol, Kant said.
Police have questioned a lot of people, including Bina Ramani and her husband, to zero-in on the culprit, he said.
The restaurant, registered under the name `Once upon a time' but operating as `Tamarind Coffe', has been sealed for the time being and actions under Delhi Police Act and Excise Act were being initiated, as it did not have a permit for serving liquor, he said.
Asked whether the killer was the son of a minister, the Joint Commissionersaid, ``How can we say now, when the killer has not yet been identified? We have got only some description about him.''
Delhi police will soon launch a drive to check illegal activities in restaurants and other eating joints, like serving of liquor without a permit and keeping the joints open beyond the prescribed time limit, he added.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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