A sudden shootout at a popular south Indian cuisine restaurant, Sagar Ratna in Central Delhi on Monday, May 18 evening has raised many questions against Delhi Police’s way of conducting encounters in public areas.

At around 8 pm Monday, a group of policemen dressed in normal clothes shot a suspect, named Manoj Vashishtha in his head while he was in the middle of his meal. According to reports, there were at least 10 other people present at the restaurant.

According to the Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi, the person was an accused in 100 cases, including cases of attempt to murder and had been absconding since a long time.

The policeman who shot Vashishtha has provided this statement for the case, “I gently trapped the shoulder of the accused from behind and told him to get up disclosing that I was a Police Officer… in no time the accused whipped his right hand towards his waist and with a violent shake, managed to pull out a shiny pistol.”

Watch the footage here uploaded by India TV :

Is this justification to shoot the man?