‘Diwali mubarak’: Faridabad murderer told neighbour as he shot him

CCTV reportedly shows Sharma shouting threats and fleeing. Investigators say the dispute began over Sharma’s dog defecating in shared areas.

The man accused of killing a Singapore-based executive last week over an argument regarding his dog was allegedly carrying a pistol with intentions to kill the victim and said “Diwali Mubarak” as he shot him, according to police officials and CCTV videos from the area on Thursday.

The CCTV footage accessed by HT showed the exact sequence of events, which start from the ground-floor where Dhankar and his family resided. (HT/ANI)

The accused, Mohan Sharma (42), allegedly shot dead his neighbour Paramjith Dhankhar (43) on November 6 in the stilt parking area of a residential building in Sector 21C. He was arrested a day later from Dealer Chowk in Ballabgarh. He was allegedly motivated by an argument over Sharma’s German Shepherd puppy whom he had let defecate in a common area in the building and Dhankhar and his family objected to.

“He was already determined to kill Dhankhar due to which he had kept the licenced pistol ready in his trouser pocket and a fully-loaded spare magazine,” said a crime branch official.

The CCTV footage accessed by HT showed the exact sequence of events, which start from the ground-floor where Dhankar and his family resided.

The timestamped videos were verified by police as well as family members.

CCTV Footage Shows the Shooting

At 9pm, Sharma, who lives on the second floor with his wife and two children, arrived at main entrance of the building and requested that Dhankar remove his car in the stilt parking. The accused can be heard addressing him as “bhaiya” and “Dhankar sahab”, the footage shows.

“This was virtually a trap and was meant to lure Dhankar downstairs,” said the official quoted above.

Though Dhankar resists at first, he eventually relents and heads to the parking lot with his son, the videos show.

Sharma, carrying a backpack which was later found to have another pistol and two more magazines with 50 live cartridges inside it, is seen pacing the stilt parking for several seconds in between with his right hand in the pocket of his trouser. He is later seen pulling out the licensed pistol which appeared to be concealed in the pocket.

As soon as Dhankhar arrives, Sharma begins an argument. As Dhankar is heard saying he doesn’t want an argument, Sharma suddenly pulls out the pistol and opens fire while inches away from him.

Dhankar attempts to escape by going towards the main road while his son runs upstairs. Sharma follows, shooting the victim in the back multiple times. In the meantime, Dhankar’s mother and wife reach the scene.

In one video, Sharma can be heard screaming “Diwali Mubarak” and addressing the victim’s wife as a “widow”.

“Come out you all... Today, I will kill you all,” he is further heard saying.

Outside, on the road, Sharma empties his entire magazine standing next to Dhankar’s mother as she tries to help the victim and then loads his pistol with a new magazine. He then gets into a car parked outside and flees.

According to police, Dhankhar had sustained nine bullet injuries in his chest, back, and abdomen.

Dispute Over the Dog and Police Investigation

Dhankhar, who had returned home from Singapore on November 5, was a former business head of the Asia-Pacific region at Tech-Mahindra and was working as a senior vice-president of Vietnam-based firm FPT Software.

According to police, the dispute with Sharma had begun three months ago when he had let the dog defecate in the stilt parking and near the underground water storage tank. The victim and his family had raised objections multiple times.

Sharma had even broken one of the three main gates of the building, used by Dhankhar, 10 days before the incident, as per police. Dhankhar and his son had filed a police complaint against Sharma, who was then called at the Ankhir police post on the morning of November 6, hours before he shot the victimn dead.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said that the Mahindra XUV 7XO in which Sharma had fled, was recovered on Wednesday. “The murder weapon had already been recovered from Samana in Punjab’s Patiala on Monday,” he said.

“Sharma will be produced before a court on Friday when his three-day police remand ends. Police may not pray for additional remand as all the required recoveries have been made,” he added.

Sharma, who had real estate business in Faridabad and scrap copper business in Rajasthan, was arrested by a crime branch team on November 7 after which he was initially taken on two-day police remand for interrogation after production before a court on Sunday.

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