Security guard shoots dead suspected thief at building site in Ghaziabad

The incident took place around 10pm when guards posted at the high-rise spotted a group of men, trying to sneak inside through the rear side of the premises

In a shoot-out reported from the outskirts of Delhi, a security guard at an under construction high-rise in Ghaziabad’s Siddharth Vihar allegedly shot dead a suspected thief, who, along with his accomplices, entered the society late Tuesday night with an intent to commit theft.

The site where the security guard shot the suspected thief in Ghaziabad’s Siddharth Vihar on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police identified the deceased suspect as Mohammad Kamruddin, aged about 34 years, who hailed from Howrah, West Bengal, and often visited his brother-in-law who lives in Ghaziabad’s Vijay Nagar.

“The suspect’s brother-in-law has a puncture repair shop in Vijay Nagar. After the incident, the police made locals inquiries with photographs of the dead man and came to know that he was seen several times at the puncture shop,” said Nimish Patil, assistant commissioner of police (city 1).

A hunt is on to identify and trace the deceased man’s accomplices, police said.

The incident took place around 10pm when guards posted at the high-rise spotted a group of men, trying to sneak inside through the rear side of the premises, police said.

“They were about four or five men. They cut off grilles and tin plates in the rear of the under-construction area. One of the guards on duty spotted them and opened fire, leading to the death of one while his accomplices fled. The police were informed and an inspection of the site was conducted late Tuesday night,” Patil said.

Police identified the guard who opened fire with his 12 bore double-barrelled shotgun as Bhoop Singh, 55.

Singh fired after several shots at the suspects, said Nipun Agarwal, deputy commissioner of police, (DCP-City), said.

“They (the thieves) had come with the intent to steal material such as iron and steel from the site. There have been previous attempts of theft there but no formal complaint was given to us about these incidents. We have visited the site and are questioning the guards to get more details,” the DCP said.

The police are questioning Singh to get more details of the incident and draw up a sequence of events, which led to the firing.

“There are no CCTV cameras at the site. The body of the suspect (who was) shot dead has been sent for an autopsy. The suspect sustained one gunshot injury and the bullet entered from the back. The guard only had one bullet in his double barrel gun and it hit the suspect. We will file an FIR once the autopsy is completed,” ACP Patil said on Wednesday evening.

A senior employee attached to the real estate project said around 400 flats are under construction at the site.

“There have been incidents of theft reported couple of months ago and over the past two days, these activities started yet again. So, we increased the number of guards. On Tuesday night, the guards spotted four or five men entering the premises and they issued them a warning. Upon this, the group of suspects opened fire,” Nikhil Sisodia, head (business development) of the project, said.

“Our guard returned the fire with his licensed gun and one of the suspects was shot dead. The group of suspects had cut off through the rear grilles and also bent some in order to make themselves a passage. We informed the police immediately,” Sisodia said.