Ghaziabad: Angry at not being invited to pre-wedding ceremony, man shoots neighbour

The accused, Vansh Valmiki, and victim, Sonu Valmiki, live on the first floor of a building in a housing society

Angry at not being invited to his neighbour’s pre-wedding ceremony, a 21-year-old man shot and injured the groom’s 44-year-old father in Tronica City in Loni, Ghaziabad on Thursday morning, police said. The accused, who has been booked for attempt to murder, is on the run, police said.

The incident took place at 10.30am during the haldi ceremony of Sonu Valmiki’s son, Deepanshu. (Representational image)

The accused, Vansh Valmiki, and victim, Sonu Valmiki, live on the first floor of a building in a housing society. The incident took place at 10.30am during the haldi ceremony of Sonu’s son, Deepanshu, who is set to be married on Saturday.

“Our close relatives and friends attended the haldi ceremony. After some time, our neighbour Vansh Valmiki, and his friend Tarun Thakur, 22, arrived outside our house and started hurling expletives. When my father objected, Vansh pulled out a country-made weapon and asked him why he was not invited. He then shot my father in his left hand. The two men fled the spot, and we rushed my father to a hospital,” Deepanshu said in his police complaint.

Based on the complaint, the Tronica City police station registered a first information report under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 352 (intentional insult) against Vansh Valmiki and Tarun Thakur.

The police said that they questioned the people who attended the haldi ceremony and all of them corroborated the victims’ allegations.

“The injured man is stable in a hospital. His family told us that their neighbour Vansh Valmiki was angry at not being invited to the ceremony and shot the victim. We are trying to gain access to CCTV footage in the neighbourhood to get more details. For now, we have registered an FIR, and our teams are trying to trace the two accused. Once they are apprehended, more details about the incident will be revealed,” said Siddharth Gautam, assistant commissioner of police of Loni circle.