Security guard shoots teen dead in Sahibabad

A security guard allegedly shot a teenager dead, suspecting that he was stealing iron rebars from an under-construction building in Sahibabad, police said on Sunday

A security guard allegedly shot a teenager dead, suspecting that he was stealing iron rebars from an under-construction building in Sahibabad, police said on Sunday. The victim’s family has said the victim was out making videos for social media.

Police said the site where the incident took place is open and does not have any walls or gates, making it easy to enter. (Representational image)

The victim was identified as a resident of Sahibabad, who worked as a welder in Lucknow and returned home on leave on August 2. Police are attempting to establish whether the victim was 17 or 18 years of age.

The incident took place around 11am on Sunday at an under-construction building in Arthala locality. Police said the site where the incident took place is open and does not have any walls or gates, making it easy to enter.

A preliminary investigation showed that the victim had been shot using a 12-bore shotgun, said station house officer (Sahibabad) Ravindar Gautam, adding that it was a licensed weapon.

“A team visited the spot and arrested the guard. During interrogation, the suspect revealed that the teenager was involved in stealing iron rebars from the construction site. He claimed he fired at the victim to scare him, but the shotshells hit him instead,” Amit Saxena, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Sahibabad, told HT.

Based on a complaint from the victim’s family, a case has been registered at the Sahibabad police station against the guard and he was arrested, police said.

Speaking to HT, the victim’s brother said he was at home when a boy from the neighbourhood informed the family that his brother had been shot at a construction site, around 500 metres away.

According to the elder brother, he had bought the victim a new smartphone two days ago and, on Sunday morning, the teenager left home, saying that he was going to record a video and would return soon. “We also found a saved video which was recorded minutes before the incident,” he said, while crying.

“My brother was killed while recording a video only. He was obsessed with making reels. The claim of stealing iron rebars is completely false and being made up to protect the suspect.”

“The claim is being investigated,” said SHO Gautam.

On the complaint of the victim’s family, a case of murder under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Sahibabad police station against the guard, police said, adding that his gun had also been seized and further investigation is underway.

The victim’s family told police that he was 17-years-old. “We are verifying whether he was 17 or 18 using his identity cards,” the ACP added.