New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS): A 24-year-old woman was shot five times by masked men in southeast Delhi, an officer said on Saturday, adding that they have arrested the accused.

According to police, on Friday, at 9.10 p.m., they received a call at the police control room. The caller reported that masked men had shot his sister dead.

The caller was identified as Manoj Kumar, a resident of Jaitpur Extension Part 1.

Subsequently, at 10.03 p.m., another call came in from Apollo Hospital, Sarita Vihar, reporting that the victim, Pooja Yadav, had been declared dead upon arrival.

"In the meantime, police arrived at the scene and located the caller, who turned out to be the brother of the deceased. He disclosed that his sister had been fatally shot by an unknown person at approximately 8:30 p.m," said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Rajesh Deo.

He further explained that upon hearing the gunshot, he emerged from his residence and saw an individual attempting to flee on a motorcycle. "He chased the accused, but the assailant fired two shots at him and managed to escape. The motorcycle was left behind at the scene," said the DCP.

Upon inspection, the police determined that the motorcycle did not bear a registration number plate.

"Nevertheless, by tracing the engine, they established that the motorcycle belonged to a resident of Jaitpur named Narendra," said the officer.

The police team subsequently visited Narendra's residence and discovered that he was not present, but his mother was.

She informed them that the motorcycle found at the scene had been borrowed by Narendra from a resident of Basantpur, Faridabad, Haryana, named Rocky.

"Local police then visited Rocky's home, but he too was missing. However, they did fond his elder brother, Krishan Pradhan, who cooperated with the investigation," said the officer.

Local inquiries unveiled that the deceased, Pooja Yadav, and Krishan Pradhan had developed an illicit relationship, which was strongly disapproved of by Krishan's younger brother, Rocky.

"Rocky managed to acquire a firearm and, with the intention of eliminating Pooja, he fatally shot her. Pooja sustained five gunshot wounds. Rocky, who had been evading capture, has been located and arrested," said the DCP.

"The involvement of other individuals in this incident is currently under investigation. The post-mortem examination of the deceased is yet to be conducted, and the investigation is ongoing," the DCP added.