29-year-old shot over parking brawl

GHAZIABAD: A 29-year-old man was shot dead during a brawl that broke out over parking of cars outside a roadside eatery in Ghaziabad's

Vasundhara

late on Sunday. His friend too was shot at, but survived because the bullet grazed his midriff.

Aman Singh Dhillon, who had come here from Punjab's

Kapurthala

for some property-related business, bled to death on the way to hospital. He had been shot on the left side of his chest, allegedly by a man called Prince who was drinking with Sanjeev, a friend, inside their parked Honda City in front of the eatery , Bhati Restaurant, in Sector 4C. Both Sanjeev and Prince are local property dealers, police said.

Dhillon and his two friends -Amandeep Singh (32), who is also from Kapurthala, Faridabad-based Amit Bainsla (25), who is a student -arrived at the eatery around 9.30pm on Sunday. Dhillion was driving the Swift VDi. Just as he pulled up behind the City to park, the sedan happened to reverse. Dhillon had opened the door and it grazed the City. That's how the brawl started. Soon, the men came to blows.

“The two men inside the City were drinking. They got out and began shouting at us,“ Singh told TOI on Monday. “Amit got out of our car and tried to pacify them. But the two men became more abusive. Both took out pistols and began firing at us. One bullet from Prince's gun hit Dhillon on his chest and he collapsed on the ground,“ Singh added.

He claimed when Bainsla and he put a bleeding Dhillon inside the car and tried to make a dash for the hospital, Prince and Sanjeev fired a couple of shots at the rear of their Swift. The gunshots had drawn a crowd to the area, and Prince and Sanjeev fled in separate directions, leaving the City where it was parked.

Sanjeev, who was injured from the blows, encountered Ghaziabad police's PCR van number 43 nearly 100 metres from the spot, and sought help. The policemen, who were unaware of the brawl, took him to Max hospital in Vais hali. He was discharged after treatment.

In the meantime, another police team reached the eatery. They connected the dots after Singh and Bainsla named Prince and Sanjeev. The duo was booked for murder in an FIR filed at

Indirapuram

police station.

Sanjeev was arrested on Monday morning from his house in Sahibabad's Rajinder Nagar. SP (city) Akash Tomar told TOI Sanjeev had gone to Vasundhara to meet Prince in his office near Alpha Towers of Vasundhara. “Both the accused used their licensed pistols during the attack. Sanjeev's pistol has been seized after his arrest while efforts are on to arrest Prince. Ballistic tests will be conducted on both pistols to ascertain the weapon from which the bullet that caused the fatal injury was fired. Sanjeev sustained two wounds on his head which are not serious. During questioning, Sanjeev told us they were attacked by rods.However, his claims are subject to verification,“ Tomar added.

Dhillon had come to Ghaziabad nearly three weeks ago with Singh. The two were staying in the house of Singh's cousin Prashant in Sector 3, Vasundhara.