Home From Singapore, Man Shot 9 Times In Faridabad Over Parking, Dog Dispute

A senior tech business executive who had flown home from Singapore for his nephew's wedding was shot dead by his neighbour on Friday night in Haryana's Faridabad, after a row over a parked car outside their shared building escalated into gunfire. The neighbour allegedly fired around 15 rounds from his licensed pistol, hitting him nine times, police said.

The victim, Paramjit Dhankhar, who'd headed Indian IT major Tech Mahindra's Asia operations and reportedly worked for a Vietnam-based company at present, died on the spot, police said.

The accused, Mohan alias Monu Sharma, fled with his family after the shooting, police said.

"Paramjit Dhankhar lived on the first floor of house number 641 with his wife, son and daughter. He worked with a major company and had been residing in Singapore for work. He had returned to Faridabad just two days ago to attend his nephew's wedding, scheduled for November 24. He originally belonged to Hisar," Surajkund Station House Officer (SHO) Prahlad Kumar told reporters.

"He had returned home from a gym around 8 pm, when a parking dispute broke out with Mohan alias Monu Sharma, who lives on the third floor of the same building. As the argument escalated, Monu opened fire on him," the SHO said.

The episode began when Dhankhar found Monu Sharma's car parked in his designated spot in the parking area of the multi-storey building in Sector 21C when he returned from the gym, and asked him to move it. The argument that followed turned violent. Police said Sharma came to the parking area with his licensed pistol and opened fire.

Police, Crime Branch personnel and a Forensic Science Laboratory team reached the scene, and several empty cartridge cases were recovered.

Police said the two families had been at odds for several days.

Investigators found that Sharma's son regularly took his pet dog to relieve itself in the parking area, which Paramjit's son, Surya, had objected to several times. The two sides had argued over the matter four to five days before the shooting, though the situation had settled each time, police said.

About five days before the killing, the accused had allegedly used abusive language against Paramjit's son, officials told news agency IANS.

Since returning home, Paramjit had joined a gym and was going there regularly, police said.

His body has been sent for post-mortem.

Teams from Surajkund police station and the Crime Branch are conducting raids to trace the accused, and police have formed multiple teams to arrest him. SHO Prahlad Kumar said police are investigating the earlier disputes between the families and the circumstances of the firing.