Gurugram: Two held for accidental shooting of cricket coach amid betting dispute

Two arrested for accidentally shooting a cricket coach while threatening his friend over a betting dispute linked to IPL losses in Gurugram.

Gurugram:Two persons were arrested Thursday for allegedly shooting a cricket coach accidentally while threatening his friend over a dispute regarding monetary losses due to betting in IPL matches, police said.

The injured coach, Sikandar (32), a resident of Sector-10, was sitting at the office of his friend Ashish Kumar, a property dealer, when the incident took place.

The 35-year-old alleged shooter, from Samlkha in Panipat, and his 20-year-old associate, a suspected bookie from Bhimgarh Kheri in Gurugram, were arrested in connection with the incident that took place in Sector 10 on Wednesday evening.

The injured coach, Sikandar (32), a resident of Sector-10, was sitting at the office of his friend Ashish Kumar, a property dealer, when the incident took place.

Kapil Ahlawat, ACP (West Gurugram), said the suspected bookie had a financial dispute with Ashish.

Police said Ashish had lost a good amount of money in betting during the recently-concluded IPL season, and owed money to the bookie, who had gone to Ashish’s office at 8 pm on Wednesday asking him to clear a debt of ₹1.63 lakh. However, he returned empty handed following an argument.

Later, when Sikandar was sitting with Ashish at his office, the two suspects – with several others – returned around 10 pm. “The suspects asked Ashish to come out, but Sikandar intervened and tried to resolve the matter. This led to a heated altercation and one of the accused opened fired. Sikandar sustained a gunshot injury in the leg,” the official said.

He was rushed to a civil hospital for treatment.

On Sikandar’s complaint, an FIR under Section 109 (1) (attempt to murder) of the BNS and Arms Act provisions was registered at Sector-10 police station.

Multiple teams were formed to nab the suspects, with two arrests on Thursday morning, Ahlawat said, adding that raids are on to arrest others involved in the shooting.