The unidentified assailants shot the victim, Mahesh Kapoor, 52, nine times and took away Rs 1,35,000 cash from him.

The police received a call around 2 pm.

Kapoor owned a Nokia mobile phone showroom on Vikas Marg; the police said he was approaching his shop with the cash in a bag when the incident took place: witnesses have told the police that two unidentified robbers — both apparently armed — arrived on a motorcycle and tried to snatch the bag of cash Kapoor was carrying.

As the businessman resisted the duo opened fire. Though the locals gave them a chase, the two sped away, the police said.

Kapoor died on the spot, the police said.

Kapoor had been running the showroom for the past seven years, local shopowners said.

“The deceased was shot at close range as many as nine times — that’s extremely shocking and alarming,” a police officer said. “We don’t suspect any personal enmity; the motive seems to be robbery.”

The officer said the “robbers did not seem to have killed Kapoor in a fit of rage”.

Local shopowners and residents hit the streets soon after the incident, protesting police inaction even as the area’s crime graph shoots northwards. Shouting anti-police slogans, they blocked Vikas Marg for a few minutes.

“There has been a series of crime in our area over the past few weeks. We appealed the police to increase security but they took no action,” local shopowner Mukesh Aggarwal said.

Taking advantage of the situation, even Bharatiya Janata Party activists joined in the protest, alleging that the Sheila Dikshit government has been unable to control crime in the Capital.

No one has been arrested or detained yet. Shakarpur police have registered a case.