Trader and family attacked, fired upon after parking dispute in Ghaziabad

The incident took place around 10.48pm on Tuesday when a truck laden with goods was to arrive at the business establishment of businessman Atul Goel

The police booked five persons for allegedly thrashing a city trader and his family members and opening fire at them following a parking dispute in Kirana Mandi late Tuesday night. Police said one of the suspects has been arrested while others are still on the run.

The police identified the five named suspects as Suchit Swami, the scooter owner, and his accomplices Himanshu Swami, Nitin Bhatnagar, Kartik Swami and Sonu Swami. (Representative Image)

The incident took place around 10.48pm on Tuesday when a truck laden with goods was to arrive at the business establishment of businessman Atul Goel. He said the scooter of a local resident was parked on the road hindering the passage of the truck.

The Kirana Mandi is a commercial and residential area which houses hundreds of business establishments, including those of spice merchants and grocers.

“The workers on the truck requested the scooter owner to move his vehicle so that the truck could pass. The scooter owner allegedly refused to heed their request. Later, the truck workers themselves moved the scooter a bit aside. This angered the scooter owner and he allegedly called several of his accomplices over. They picked a fight with us and I tried to placate them. They went away and returned with several more people,” Goel said.

He said the men were armed with a revolver and also tube lights with which they attacked him and his family members.

“They fired four shots at us, but, luckily, the bullets missed us. They hit my son with the butt of the revolver and beat us with rods and sticks and fled when locals started gathering. The incident was also captured by a nearby CCTV camera and that footage has been handed over to the police along with a complaint,” Goel said.

Based on the complaint, the police said that they registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at Kotwali police station

The police identified the five named suspects as Suchit Swami, the scooter owner, and his accomplices Himanshu Swami, Nitin Bhatnagar, Kartik Swami and Sonu Swami.

“The matter was related to a parking dispute. At least four gunshots were fired during the incident and we have registered an FIR under stringent IPC sections,” said Nipun Agarwal, deputy commissioner of police (city).

Assistant commissioner of police Nimish Patil said police have arrested Swami. “A search is on for the other suspects and teams are trying to trace them,” he said.