67-year-old retired defence officer shot dead in Greater Noida

Investigators said Hari Prasad, 67, who hailed from Agra, resided in Stellar Jeevan Society with his son. He was seated on a roadside bench when he was shot in the neck from behind

A 67-year-old senior auditor, who retired from the controller of defence accounts (CDA) department, was shot dead allegedly by an unidentified suspects near his housing society Stellar Jeevan Society in Greater Noida’s Bisrakh on Wednesday afternoon, senior police officers said.

Prima facie, it was suspected that he was shot from behind. However, his body was sent for post-mortem and the exact cause of death will be ascertained in the autopsy report, said police. (Representational image)

Investigators said Hari Prasad, 67, who hailed from Agra, resided in Stellar Jeevan Society with his son. He was seated on a roadside bench when he was shot in the neck from behind. Police received information from the security supervisor of Stellar Jeevan Society around 12.30pm and a team rushed to the spot.

“On Wednesday around 11.45am, when I was in my office, I heard a gunshot from outside the society. The security supervisor and I rushed to the spot, and found a group of people gathered around a roadside bench on the green belt,” said a management employee of Stellar Jeevan Society, who refused to be identified.

He further said, “We found an elderly man seated on the bench, soaked in blood. He was bleeding profusely from behind his neck. The security supervisor immediately contacted the local police outpost.”

“Prasad retired in 2015 as a senior auditor in the controller of defence (CDA), pension department,” said Suniti, deputy commissioner of police, Central Noida.

“A team, accompanied by a senior police officer, rushed to the spot and the deceased was identified with the help of locals. Later, his daughter-in-law was contacted, and the body was sent for a post-mortem examination,” said Rajeev Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, Central Noida.

The ACP further said, “Prasad was living with his elder son, Praveen Kumar, who works at the Central Bank of India in Delhi. At the time of the incident, Kumar was at his Delhi office. Prasad’s other two sons reside in Gurugram and Noida.”

A senior police officer said, “Prima facie, it was suspected that he was shot from behind. However, his body was sent for post-mortem and the exact cause of death will be ascertained in the autopsy report.”

DCP Suniti said, “During investigation, it came to fore that Prasad used to go on walks, three times a day. On Wednesday, he returned from his morning walk around 6am. After having breakfast, he again left home around 9.30am and the incident took place around 11.30am. As he regularly used to return home by 12.30pm, his family members did not suspect anything amiss.”

“His family members said Prasad had no family or professional rivalry with anyone. We have seized multiple digital video recorders (DVRs) from nearby cameras to identify the suspect(s),” said Suniti, adding that they are also trying to ascertain whether there were any eyewitness.

A case of murder was registered against unidentified suspects at Bisrakh police station on Wednesday and six teams have been formed to identify the crack the case. Further investigations are underway.