NEW DELHI: Dr .D.S. Tyagi, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, was shot dead at the doorstep of his Bharti Nagar flat in the heart of the City by two turbaned youths hours before the marriage of his only daughter,
The youths escaped on a two wheeler, With at least three bullet wounds in the chest from a .32 revolver, Dr. Tyagi, 50, was rushed to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, He died soon after.
Dr. Tyagi, of the Indian Economic Service, had joined the mission in 1973 as a joint director and rose to become its chairman in April last year. is daughter, Prema, was to be married off that day. The D 1-49 flat in the government colony, strung with lights and decorated for the wedding, had seen much merriment. About 8:15 that morning, tragedy struck. Stunned, grief-stricken relatives wailed inconsolably Raghubir Singh Tyagi, Dr. Tyagi’ sagged father, maintained a stoic front.
Senior police officers rushed to the spot the motive for the target killing is not clear, Dr. Tyagi was not under threat from militants. Relatives say he had not enmity with anyone and had not got any threatening letters or calls. A possibility raised by some is a link with the ongoing boycott of government wheat god owns by Punjab farmers, protesting against the state government’s low procurement prices. The police are also examining other possibilities and molives. Since the assailants had asked only for Tyagi, and not specifically for Dr. D.S, Tyagi, the police are also drawing up a list of all the relatives who had come for the wedding.
The police have formed three teams to conduct the investigation, to be supervised by the district police chief, J.P. Singh. An additional 25 men have been sent to the area to strengthen patrolling and reassure residents of this area, said a senior official.
This pocket of flats in the colony is probably the only unguarded one, There is no protected person living here. But the area security is generally heavy. On one side of the main road (connecting Subramania Bharati Marg to Maharishi Ramana Marg) is this colony. On the other side is Lodi Estate, where the police commissioner, M.B. Kaushal, and two former city police chiefs, Ved Marwah and Vijay Karan live.
Faqir Singh and Sheetal Prasad, two peons from Dr,Tyagi’ s office, related the event. Both were on the front lawn that morning having tea.
Two turbaned youths came up to the gate, Said Faqir Singh “asked them what they wanted. They asked for Tyagiji. Just then, they must have rung the bell, for Dr.Tyagi came out. Standing at the doorstep, he too, asked what they wanted. They said they wanted to talk to him and wanted him to come a side. He replied they could talk right there. One of the men fired at him, it must have been four-five shots. It sounded like fireworks.
As Dr.Tyagi collapsed on the steps, bleeding, the youths turned towards Sheetal and pointed the revolver at him. He fell flat on the ground. The men fled, Fakir Singh ran towards the bus stand, crying that Dr.Tyagi had been killed. “Nobody came out. Important people live here, what is the point? None came out. Ina small colony, thousands would have gathered, said Faqir Singh.
They said the assailants seemed to be in the age group of young. Both had black wirbans, One was wearing arch-check shirt. The who speculated that the youths had come on a two-wheeler. One of Dr.Tyagi’s two sons told the police that the scooter was grey; but he is not sure. Nobody is sure about the direction the men fled.
Blood marked the few steps to the flat, where Dr, Tyagi had fallen, At least two life cartridges and two empties have been recovered. Inside the flat, women wept. Dr.Tyagi’s wife, Vimla Tyagi, was in an inner room. He has three children, Prema, who was to be married off. Prashant, an engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology, and Pravin, a Class XII student at School,
On the lawns sat relatives Dr.Tyagi’s father, R.S.Tyagi, 80, sat stoic on the carpet. He, with others, is staying al a guest house nearby. “Last night, we were here. There was a ‘davat’. “This morning, he got a telephone call telling him of the tragedy. They first went to AIIMS, then came to the flat.
Tyagi, a retired police inspector himself, stays in the Garh Mukhteshwar area of UP. He has two others sons. One, the youngest of the three, Rajinder Singh Tyagi, is an advocate in Ghaziabad. The second and eldest Salvir Singh Tyagi, is a deputy superintendent of police in Kanpur.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 22, 1992
