Other guests said the realtor, Sandeep Singh, was incensed the singer did not entertain his request for a song. Singh fled the party after randomly firing from his country-made pistol, eyewitnesses said.

Police officers said the party was organised by one Vijay Mathur and his brother Veer Singh at their farmhouse in Rama Vihar, Kanjhawala in Outer Delhi. The farmhouse is in an unauthorised colony, officers said, adding the party was hosted without permission from the police.

A traditional raagini session was on at the party, guests said. In such musical parties, the audience puts money on a song requested. The band belts out the song that has the highest bid on it.

On Wednesday evening, as soon as the band from Haryana with singer Meenu Chaudhary took the stage, Singh made a request for a song. His request however got drowned — and six times — because other guests were bidding higher than him every time. Singh however continued to top his initial bid.

By the time the evening drew to a close, Singh started complaining that his song had not been played. Guests said he was probably more angry since he had taken the initiative to bring the band from Haryana.

Eyewitness Ajay Kumar, also a property dealer, said: “Things were fine till 10 pm. Guests had begun to leave by then. Close to 11 pm, when a handful of us were still around, Singh started to grumble that his requests had not been heeded. After a few more minutes, he whipped out his country-made pistol and fired six rounds. He fired point-blank at two guests, and two others were hit in the indiscriminate shooting that followed.”

Police sources said Singh first aimed at 27-year-old Vinod Singh. He shot him in the forehead. Next he turned towards one Shiv Narayan, 45, sitting by and shot him in the chest. The next four shots rang out loud and the bullets hit the palm of one guest, and the leg of another. Singh then escaped in his car, the police said.

Soon after the incident, one Bittoo rang up the police. The four injured were taken to the Brahma Shakti Hospital where Vinod Singh and Shiv Narayan were declared dead on arrival. Their bodies were later taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for postmortem.

The injured, Vijay Mathur, 26, and Rajesh, 24, underwent surgery and their condition is stable, the police said.

Both deceased were from the Majri village nearby. Shiv Narayan’s daughter Niki Dawas — an assistant commander of the Central Reserve Police Force in Chennai — said her father thought the party would discuss politics. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District) Atul Katiyar however said there was no political rivalry behind the shootout. Vinod Singh is survived by a young wife and a one-year-old child.

The police said raagini parties were a favourite with host Vijay Mathur. Such evenings were frequent in his farmhouse.

Katiyar added, “A case has been registered against unidentified people at the moment. We are not sure Sandeep Singh was the only one who fired. We are talking to all guests present that evening.” Singh is from Bawana village, officers said. He has a fat crime dossier too — three criminal cases, including one of murder. The police went to his house on Thursday, but he remains on the run.