By Sagaya Fernando | December 8, 2025
New Delhi, INDIA: A 14-year-old boy who worked long hours at a local grocery store to support his paralysed father was shot dead on Saturday November 29 night after he allegedly picked up currency notes thrown during a wedding procession in East Delhi’s Shahdara. The accused, a CISF head constable, has been arrested.
The victim, identified as Saahil, had just finished his daily 11-hour shift at a grocery shop when he stopped to watch a wedding procession moving towards a community centre in Mansarovar Park. As part of the celebrations, guests began tossing currency notes into the air. Saahil and several neighbourhood children rushed to pick up a few notes from the ground.
According to eyewitnesses, a man from the procession pulled the boy by his collar and slapped him repeatedly. “Some boys ran home in fear, but Saahil got left behind,” said Tabrez Alam, the victim’s brother-in-law. “His friend told us that when Saahil asked why he was being beaten, the man became furious, pulled out a gun and shot him in the head.”
The killer, identified as Madan Gopal Tiwari, a CISF head constable posted in Kanpur, had come to Delhi to attend his cousin’s wedding. Police said he fled the scene after the shooting and was arrested a day later from Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. Investigators said preliminary questioning suggested the officer was intoxicated at the time and had a history of anger-related and mental-health issues.
Police were alerted after a passerby reported gunshots near the DDA Market community centre. Responding officers found the teenager bleeding amid the congested lane through which the wedding procession was passing. Saahil was taken to Hedgewar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
At Saahil’s home, grief and anger spilled over. His mother, Nisha, said her son’s only intention was to ease the family’s financial burden. “He was coming home after work… he got tempted by the notes being thrown. The money he picked up was fake anyway,” she said.
The boy had dropped out of school earlier this year after his father, Sirajuddin Ansari, suffered a paralytic attack that left his left arm immobile. Unable to continue his job at a gas cylinder warehouse, Ansari said the family relied on Saahil’s meagre salary of ₹6,000 per month from the grocery shop. “He worked so hard because he saw his father suffering,” the mother said. Saahil is survived by his three brothers and three sisters.
Community members have demanded a transparent investigation and strict action, calling the killing a shocking example of abuse of power. Civil-society groups have also warned that mishandling the case could fuel tensions in the area.
Police said further forensic analysis of the weapon and eyewitness statements are underway.
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